Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess
by bfalt1
Summary: (Book 1 of 5) Elizabeth Jackson has never been more excited. Finally, after hearing stories about Camp for years, she's getting to go. However, her summer won't go as smoothly as planned. A goddess has been kidnapped, and there will be hell to pay if she isn't safely returned by the summer solstice. Elizabeth takes it upon herself to do so, and... (full sum. inside) COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: I Get Into a Death Match

**AN: Hello, hello! At long last, I have finally reached the point where I feel comfortable publishing this story. My first multi-chapter fic on this profile. The plan is to publish _at least_ one chapter a week, though it may change to two a week if I get sufficiently far enough ahead with my writing. I don't make any promises, but I'll do my best to stick to that upload schedule. I will definitely upload two chapters this week, though. This one, and then the second one on Friday. Anyway, before we go any further, here's that full summary I promised in the short blurb you clicked on.**

 **Full summary: Elizabeth Jackson has never been more excited. Finally, after hearing stories about Camp for years, she's getting to go. However, her summer won't go as smoothly as planned. A goddess has been kidnapped, and there will be hell to pay if she isn't safely returned by the summer solstice. Elizabeth takes it upon herself to do so, and along with her new friends, Theo and Jocelyn, goes on a quest to save the world. However, behind it all someone is pulling the strings: the kidnapping is just the first step in a much bigger plot.**

 **Exciting! Anyway, I would absolutely _love_ any and all feedback on the story. So don't feel shy! Leave me a review! Questions, comments, suggestions, I'm open to all. And hey, if you ask a question, I may answer it in the next chapter's Author's Note (as long as it's not a spoiler).**

 **One last note before we get going. In my one-shot collection (which is not very long yet), Untold Stories, is a brief story about Elizabeth Jackson set a few months before this book starts. It doesn't really pertain to anything that happens here, but if you want to see more of a couple of the characters in this story, check it out.**

 **OKAY, that's finally it. Without further ado, Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess

Chapter 1: I Get Into a Death Match with My Gym Teacher

No one ever said that being descended from the Greek gods was easy. It's dangerous, it's scary, and often it gets you killed. But that doesn't mean that it isn't freaking awesome!

I guess I should back up. My name is Elizabeth Jackson. If that last name sounds familiar, it might be because of my parents: Percy and Annabeth Jackson (nee Chase), two of the most important and most powerful heroes who ever lived. They defeated Kronos, and they are among the legendary "Seven." You could say that I've got a lot to live up to, and you wouldn't be wrong there. But I'm a Jackson. I like a challenge. Little did I know that before long, I would be in over my head involved in the very type of challenge, the very type of adventure, which I sought. I suppose it all started on my last day of seventh grade…

* * *

The alarm on my phone blared, jerking me out of my sleep. I looked around my room confusedly, trying to find the source of the annoying noise. Finally, I grabbed my phone and flicked off the alarm. I gazed around my room, trying to gather my bearings until I remembered what day it was. It was the last day of school. And just like that, I was wide awake.

I leaped out of bed and stretched, looking out the wall of windows over the New York skyline. I turned and dashed to my door, ready to head across the hall to the bathroom when suddenly I found myself crashed in a heap on the floor. "Ow!" I yelped. I looked around for what I'd slipped on, and found one of my skateboards rolling across the room away from me. I really needed to find a better way to store those things. "I'll discipline you later," I grumbled at the offending skateboard after I'd untangled myself from… myself and stood up.

I went across the hall into the bathroom, more careful not to step on anything this time, and entered the bathroom that my younger brother Matt and I shared. I winced when I saw myself in the mirror. My curly black hair was a mess, matted on one side and sticking up all over the place. It took me a solid ten minutes to undo the knots in my hair and pull it into a presentable ponytail, then I hurried back into my room to change out of my pajamas.

After pulling on my clothes, strapping the skateboard I hadn't slipped on to the outside of my backpack - the other one was in time-out - and pulling on my Red Sox cap I left my room again and hurried downstairs to the first floor of our penthouse apartment. Penthouse apartment! Yeah, my family is kinda rich. My mom is the founder and CEO of one of the largest Architectural firms in the United States: Olympic Architecture.

When I reached the base of the stairs, the smell of eggs and bacon beckoned me into the kitchen. My dad stood at the stove, wearing a pair of New Rome University sweatpants and an old Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. At the sight of the shirt, my excitement peaked again. I would be going to Camp for the first time tomorrow! I'd finally get the chance to really experience all the amazing things my parents had told me about!

"Morning, Elizabeth," dad said, yawning. "You look excited. Ready for your last day of school?"

"Am I ever!" I said. "Only one test separates me from Camp!"

"What subject is it?" dad asked, turning his back on the stove, letting the bacon sizzle a bit.

"Math," I said. "Piece of cake."

Dad gave me a look that implied that math was _not_ a piece of cake, and, in fact, math was the most repulsive thing to ever walk the face of the planet. "Thank gods you inherited your mother's intelligence. Math was a nightmare for me. Of course, my sixth grade math teacher was a fury…"

At that moment, mom came into the kitchen. People always said I was the spitting image of my mom, same face, same eyes, same body type; the only difference was that instead of blonde, my hair was black. Mom was dressed in high heels, a knee length black skirt, a white blouse, and a black blazer. I figured she had a meeting today because mom _hated_ wearing high heels and only wore them if she had a meeting to go to. "That's no excuse for the years after that," mom quipped.

Dad shrugged. "Some people are good at math, Wise Girl, other people aren't."

Mom rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around dad's waist. "You are such a Seaweed Brain." She kissed him and I looked away pointedly (watching your parents kiss is just _gross_ ).

Then, mom's cell phone rang. It was pretty much exactly the same as mine: a wafer thin black device with the Greek letter Eta written on the back. The phones were part of a line of demigod-friendly products built by Uncle Leo. "Hey, Malcolm," mom said, answering the phone. "What's up?" Malcolm, one of my mom's half-brothers on the godly side, was the CFO of my mom's company. He'd been with mom since the founding of the company. The two were close; apparently he'd been her second-in-command at Camp Half-Blood.

As mom and Malcolm chatted about building projects and deals and whatever else bigshot architecture people talk about, dad looked at me and said, "Go upstairs and make sure your brother is awake." Then he turned back to the bacon and eggs. I hoisted myself up from my seat and trudged back upstairs.

My brother's room was right next to mine, thus why we had to share a bathroom, and thank gods there were two sinks in there. Although he was a year younger than me, he slept like a sixteen year old. That is, like a log and all the time. I pounded on the door and got a muffled grunt in response. "Come on, Matt, wake up," I called. "Last day of school, remember?" Another muffled grunt. He sounded like a water buffalo. "Oh for Zeus's sake," I grumbled, and shouldered his door open.

My room was by no means the paragon of cleanliness, but I tried to keep things fairly organized. Compared to Matt's room, though, I practically lived in a sterile environment. Clothes were strewn all about his floor, his bookshelf was covered in miscellany, and empty soda cans could be found lying on his bedside table and on top of his dresser. Matt lay face down on his bare mattress, one sheet half covering his body, the rest of his blankets in a heap at the foot of his bed. How he slept like that I have no idea.

"Yo, dude, time to wake up," I said loudly right next to his ear.

"Five more minutes," he mumbled softly. I rolled my eyes and yanked the pillow out from under his head, then proceeded to hit him with it viciously (or as viciously as you can with a pillow) until he finally said, "Ow, ow, okay! I'll get up!"

I stepped back as Matt swung his legs around to the edge of the bed and sat up. As much as I looked like mom, he looked like dad, except for his hair, of course, which was blond – sort of the inverse of me. "Do you mind leaving?" he said grumpily. "I have to get dressed."

"How do you even know which clothes are clean?" I asked in disgust, looking around his floor. I knew for a fact that he never bothered to put clean clothes away in his dresser.

"Clothes on the right side of my bed are dirty," he said shortly. "Clothes on the left are clean. I've got a system, don't go parenting me. Now, I have to get dressed, so out."

"Whatever," I said with a shrug and departed from his room. I bounded back down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Mom and dad didn't notice my presence immediately, which was awkward because they were doing the only thing worse than kissing: flirting.

"C'mon," dad was saying, his arms wrapped around mom's waist, "when have I ever let plans fall through?"

"Where should I start?" mom asked sarcastically. "How about our one-month anniversary?"

"I believe I took you to Paris," dad responded.

"And you were late to our wedding," mom retorted.

"That was hardly my own fault," dad said defensively. "Are you ever going to let that one go?"

"Nope, it's way more fun to hold it over you," mom said just before kissing him.

I cleared my throat and my parents broke apart. "Why do you guys have to do that?" I asked, sitting at the breakfast table. "Flirt, I mean. You're already married. It's kinda gross."

Dad laughed. "But that's what makes it fun! It grosses you out!" He set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me and I started inhaling the food.

"Whatever, dad," I said through a mouthful of food. "So what was mom saying about plans and you letting them fall through?"

"Tonight is Sierra's last night in town," mom reminded me. My heart sank. Sierra Grace, my best friend, would be going to Camp Jupiter instead of Camp Half-Blood. Meanwhile, her annoying twin brother Gus (well, Augustus, but I called him Gus because it bothered him) would be the Grace sibling going to Camp Half-Blood with me. "And Augustus is spending the night here so we can drive him to Camp tomorrow."

I groaned. "We're driving Gus to Camp tomorrow? Why?"

"Because Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper are flying out to California with Sierra and taking Riley" - Riley was the youngest Grace kid, he was a two years younger than Sierra and Gus - "out to see Emily and Hannah," mom explained, giving me a stern look. Emily and Hannah were the Zhang girls. Emily was Riley's age and Hannah was a year younger. "I don't know why you and Augustus can't get along, Elizabeth. You two used to get along so well when you were younger."

"It'll sort itself out," dad said, coming to join the two of us at the breakfast table. "Remember, you and I hated each other when we first met. And I _still_ butt heads with Thalia."

"Isn't Thalia still sixteen?" I pointed out. "You argue with a teenager?"

Dad blushed. "That's not the point. The _point_ is that despite how much you and Augustus argue, you are still friends, whether either you will admit it or not." I frowned. I wasn't so sure that I bought it, but I also couldn't think of anything to say in rebuttal.

At that point, Matt interrupted by coming into the kitchen and saying, "Is that bacon I smell?"

"Always a one track mind," I said under my breath. Not that I could talk; I was trying to pick up tiny bacon crumbs from my plate. Matt went over to the stove and heaped bacon onto his plate, then joined us at the table.

"At any rate," mom continued, "the Graces are coming over tonight for dinner, but Piper and I will be at a meeting until late," - Aunt Piper was the head of Public Relations at Olympic Architecture - "so your father is in charge of making sure that the food gets made."

"And it will," dad said. "I made breakfast didn't I?"

Mom raised an eyebrow at dad. "I literally had to kick you to get out of bed to come make breakfast." Dad was about to retort when mom's phone rang again. Thank Zeus, too, I don't know how much more of the flirting I could stand without puking. "Hello? Hey Pipes!... Okay, yeah, I'll meet you downstairs." She hung up the phone and kissed each of us goodbye. "Piper's here, I've gotta go. Love you guys! Have a good last day of school Elizabeth and Matt!"

"Bye mom," Matt and I chorused. Dad followed mom to the door, leaving Matt and I alone in the kitchen. We had a brief fight over who got the last piece of bacon, which I won by punching him… beneath the belt, and sat back down before dad rejoined us, twirling his car keys around his finger.

"Alright guys, we should probably head out, too," dad said. Matt nodded, still in pain from where I'd punched him, and I said, "Okay, dad." As we walked out the front door, I remembered that I'd forgotten to pack my Celestial Bronze knife in my backpack. I briefly considered asking to run back upstairs to get it, but I decided against it. It was the last day of school and nothing had happened all year except an incident with a Sphinx, and that hadn't even been _at_ school, so I was sure that I'd be fine without it today. Turns out, I was wrong.

* * *

Halfway to school, the radio got interrupted by a computerized voice which said, "Incoming call from Leo Valdez."

"Answer," dad said. Then, "Yo, what's up Valdez?"

"Sup, Jackson," came Uncle Leo's voice over the car speakers. "Can you talk?" he asked. _Can you talk?_ The euphemism for _Are the kids within earshot?_ Mom or dad often got calls from one of our Aunts or Uncles or even from Nico or Reyna, other friends of the family, that often began with the words _Can you talk?_

"Uh, the kids are in the car," dad responded, as I knew he would. It was actually pretty annoying. I mean, okay, I get it, top secret "the Seven of Prophecy" (what were they, the Avengers of demigods?) matters or whatever, but that didn't stop it from getting on my nerves. I was thirteen, I wasn't stupid. I knew that a call like this meant that mom and dad would be leaving on a quest soon and Matt and I would be off to stay with Grandpa Paul and Grandma Sally. Well, Matt would; I'd be at Camp Half-Blood this time.

"Oh, okay," Uncle Leo said. "Well how are you kids doing?"

"Pretty good," I responded. "It's the last day of school today and I only have one test. Then I'm off to Camp tomorrow!"

Uncle Leo whistled. "You're already thirteen? My goodness the time flies faster than Festus. How about you Matt? What are you up to this summer?"

Matt sat forward excitedly in the backseat. I frowned, because I knew exactly what he was going to say. "Dad's taking me to see Grandpa Poseidon's palace!" he exclaimed excitedly.

And there it was. Matt would be visiting the undersea palace of our grandfather and I wouldn't be. I never would be. Because unlike dad or my brother, I had no water powers. I knew it was a silly thing to be upset over. I was getting to go to _Camp_ this year, and besides, it's not like it was anyone's _fault_ that I didn't have any of Poseidon's awesome sea powers, I just didn't. Even so, it had upset me since I could remember. What was wrong with me that I hadn't gotten those powers?

I had apparently tuned out the rest of the conversation, lost in my thoughts as I was, because next thing I knew, dad was saying, "Alright, man, I'll call you back later."

"Sounds good, Perce," Uncle Leo said. "Bye kids, have a great last day of school!"

"Bye, Uncle Leo!" Matt and I responded. There was a soft beeping sound as the phone hung up. Most of the rest of the drive was uneventful. We listened to the radio in tired silence. Well, Matt and dad were tired. I was lost in thought about my powers dilemma. Finally, we arrived at Goode Junior High. It was really just a Middle School, but I guess they thought calling it a "Junior High" made it sound more impressive. Goode Jr. as most of the student body derisively called it fed into the High School my dad had gone to and Grandpa Paul taught at.

Matt got out of the car, "Bye dad, see you later."

I was about to get out, too, but dad placed his hand on my shoulder. "Hey," he said, "I may not be the most observant person in the world, but I know you're upset about your brother and I going to see Poseidon's palace."

"It's not really that," I said. "It's just… Dad, why didn't I get any water powers?"

"I don't know honey," dad admitted. "The fates are impossible to understand. But you know that this doesn't mean that I love you any less, right? You're perfect just the way you are, Elizabeth, and you don't need water powers to prove it."

"Thanks, dad," I said. We'd had this talk before, but it didn't change the fact that I desperately _wanted_ water powers. I was jealous of my brother and I had been ever since his powers had first manifested. I made to get out of the car again, but dad held me back one more time. "Remember, Camp tomorrow."

I smiled. That was true. I would finally be going to Camp tomorrow and that made everything worth it, even Gus staying the night at our house. Somehow, dad always knew how to cheer me up. "Thanks, dad. Love you."

"Love you, too," he said. "Do well on your test today!"

"Of course!" I called back as I walked into the building.

* * *

I was sitting in the hall outside the gymnasium after I finished my math final because for some reason the math final was held in the gym. I had finished the test in forty-five minutes. Technically, we weren't supposed to be let out until two hours had passed, but Mr. Pastor, my math teacher, was a nice guy, and I was his favorite student, so he'd let me out. I was reading (luckily, I hadn't inherited my parents' dyslexia), minding my own business when the meanest teacher in the school decided to ruin my last day of school. "Ms. Jackson!" the stern voice of Mrs. Dimitri, my gym teacher, snapped from down the hall. I looked up at the woman and received a look that would've turned _Medusa_ to stone.

Mrs. Dimitri was a tall, thin woman with short black hair, yellowish eyes and long fingernails. _Seriously, lady, haven't you ever heard of a nail clipper?_ I thought. She was dressed in the normal gym teacher getup of white shirt and athletic pants. However, she was also wearing snakeskin boats, which she never took off as far as I knew, a habit that seemed weird for a gym teacher to have. We all joked about them behind her back. "What are you doing out in the hall?" she snapped.

"I finished my test," I said. "Mr. Pastor let me out early."

"And you're the only one who finished?" she asked suspiciously.

I almost said, _By a long shot_ , but I decided against that. "Yeah," I said simply.

She smiled coldly. "Good." I really didn't like the sinister edge in her voice when she said that. I liked it even less when she began to transform. The snakeskin of her boots grew up her legs. Her already long fingernails grew into talons. The pupils of her eyes became slits, and her tongue shot out between her now-fangs, revealing that it was forked. After the transformation was complete, I found myself looking at a dracaena.

Gods, I was an idiot. How had I not seen her for what she really was? And of course, I'd neglected to bring my knife to school with me. I was a complete dunce. The snake-woman formerly known as my gym teacher lunged at me. I grabbed the first thing my fingers wrapped around: my backpack strap. I swung the bag at her, and it collided with her head, making a satisfying thud. Mrs. Dimitri went sprawling backwards.

I used the brief opportunity to dash across the hall into the girls' locker room. I ran down the rows and rows of lockers and dove down a row just in time for Mrs. Dimitri to slam open the locker room door. I knew that I didn't have long before she found me, but I didn't know what to do. I had no weapon. I looked around helplessly. Then I noticed that one of the lockers was open very slightly. Maybe I did have a weapon after all. I dashed down the row and stuck my hand in the opening, waiting.

Mrs. Dimitri turned down my row of lockers. "Time to die, Jackson!" She moved surprisingly fast, but that was good. The more momentum the better. As soon as she got close, I swung the locker open with as much force as possible. Mrs. Dimitri slammed into the door with such force that it broke off its hinges. Mrs. Dimitri screamed aloud and fell to the floor in a heap. I dashed away down the aisle and back towards the door. My hat flew off, but I didn't have time to look back. I slammed against the locker room door, but it didn't open. Mrs. Dimitri had locked the door. I turned around. Mrs. Dimitri was making her way towards me, a massive purple lump on her forehead and looking even more murderous than before, if that was even possible. She had my hat clutched in her talons and she ripped it in half as she made her way to me. I saw red. I loved that hat.

I yelled and ran at her, my fist cocked back to punch her. Unfortunately, this move was a pretty obvious one, and she was expecting it. She caught my wrist, her talons digging in and drawing blood. I gasped in pain. She twisted my arm, and I felt my shoulder pop out of its socket. I yelped aloud. Then with her free hand, she smacked me backwards, into the door. I was just regaining my bearings when she grabbed me around the throat, slammed my back into the door, and lifted me into the air. I kicked out at her, but it had no effect.

"I've been waiting for this all year," Mrs. Dimitri snarled. "I was sent here to see what your potential was. I'm not supposed to kill you, but… well you didn't exactly meet my master's expectations, so I'm sure he won't mind too much." Her master? What did that mean?

Not that I'd ever find out. I was running out of air quickly. My peripheral vision had gone dark, and I could feel my heart beat in my skull. I knew I didn't have long before I passed out, and that would be my doom. Suddenly, I felt a sharp, intense pain in my stomach. What was that all about? Maybe it was part of dying via suffocation?

And then there was a roaring noise and I collapsed to the floor, retching. I looked up, wondering what had happened. Mrs. Dimitri was being blasted by a jet of water from one of the shower stalls. "Am I doing that?" I wondered aloud. In response the pain in my stomach got worse and I gasped, clutching my stomach. My eyes watered in pain. All around me, the walls of the locker room bulged, and before I knew what was happening, there was something of an explosion. All the pipes in the walls burst, tearing apart the locker room and drenching everything, myself included. And then… it was over.

Mrs. Dimitri was gone, the golden powder that had been her washing down the drain in the floor along with the small lake that had just been created. The pain in my stomach was gone, too. I was alone, kneeling in the locker room, drenched to the bone. I wasn't sure _what_ had just happened, but one thing was clear. I had water powers. I had the powers of Poseidon.

* * *

 **Thanks for sticking around until the end! You must be pretty cool :)**

 **DFTBA!**


	2. Chapter 2: I Dream of Burnt Cookies

**AN: Hello again! I was going to post Chapter 2 on Friday, but I decided to post it a day early! Before we get going, I would like to thank everyone who read Chapter 1, and I would like to shout out to XxDarkDalekXx and who were kind enough to leave me reviews. You guys are extra awesome! Anyway, here's Chapter 2. It's a lot shorter than the first chapter, but it's a pretty important one. Anyone, on with the show, and DFTBA!**

Chapter 2: I Dream of Burnt Cookies

How I managed to talk myself out of trouble, I still don't know. Even if it was "impossible" for one thirteen year old girl to cause all the pipes in the locker room to burst and cause thousands of dollars of damage (whoops), it was still suspicious that I was the only one in the locker room. However, I played the role of the victim of a freak accident, which wasn't hard, and I was sent to the nurse's office.

I really wasn't feeling too well, anyhow. My shoulder was dislocated, I had a pounding headache, and nausea threatened to make me puke up my bacon from earlier in the morning. On top of all that, I was still soaking wet and had developed the shivers. It seriously felt like I'd come down with the flu. Was this somehow a result of my desperate release of Poseidon's powers? I had nothing to go on, which frustrated me. I _hated_ not having the answers. After popping my shoulder back into its socket and wrapping a bag of ice around it, the nurse sent me to lie down while she called my dad and explained what happened.

"Try to get a nap, dear," the nurse said after leading me to one of the beds. "I'll call your father, but you should try to get some rest before he arrives. Rest goes a long way towards making you feel better."

My body may have been exhausted, sickly, and in pain, but my mind was still abuzz. I sincerely doubted that I would be able to fall asleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.

* * *

In my dream, I found myself standing outside a house on a cliff overlooking a highway. It was a clear night. The full moon shone bright and pearlescent in the sky, which illuminated the extreme peculiarities of the house – or rather, the yard. The house itself was beautiful, a two-story colonial house. I may not have been as passionate as my mom about architecture, but I could certainly still appreciate good design, and this house had good design.

The massive yard, however, was overgrown with shrubs and trees. In places the grass went all the way up to my waist. The sidewalk, though cracked and unkempt, was clear. And all along the sides of it were beanie babies. Some were normal animals, like lions, pigs, giraffes, bears, and so forth. But others were monsters, like the Hydra, the Minotaur, even Medusa. I wasn't aware that Beanie Baby had a "deadly creatures from the dawn of time" lineup. The stuffed animals looked old and decayed, like they'd been sitting outside of this house for years, decades even.

I found myself zooming towards the front porch, where I was greeting by a veritable army of wind chimes and a young man. He looked to be in his early twenties. He was tall, with toned muscles and sandy blond hair. On his belt hung a sword, the hilt of which was embedded with a ruby. However, the sword didn't surprise or startle me. What startled me were his eyes. They were golden.

The man was facing away from the turquoise front door. There was Greek lettering written on the door underneath a name in English: Castellan. He was surveying the lawn, a look of practiced apathy on his face. However, his body language indicated that he was very nervous indeed, which suggested to me that he had not actually entered the house yet. I certainly couldn't blame him. After the strangeness of the yard, I couldn't image how strange the interior was or how strange the home's occupant was.

The man took a deep breath and turned around, taking two resolute steps towards the door. He knocked.

He'd barely touched the door when it swung open. The person who had opened the door was backlit, so it was very hard to make her out, but she looked exceptionally old. Regardless, she cried out happily, "Luke!"

She stepped forward, enveloping the man in a hug that very clearly made him extremely uncomfortable. Just the small shift in position allowed me to make the woman out much better. Based on what little hair she had left, the bone thin nature of her limbs and body, and the seemingly infinite number of wrinkles, I concluded that the woman must be at least two hundred years old. Her eyes, however, told a different story. They were bright and vibrant. Too bright. They were off putting. And that wasn't even taking into account that they were fractured, like a kaleidoscope. Her clothes, too, were strange and unkempt, scorched in places, and she smelled of burned food. Cookies perhaps?

"Come inside my dear son!" she said enthusiastically. "I have your lunch ready."

"That really won't be necessary," the man responded. His voice was hard to describe. It was smooth and carried the quality of someone who was used to being in charge and being able to convince other people what to do. However, there was also an edge in his voice that betrayed his nervousness, fear, even.

"No, I insist," the elderly woman said, and she turned and beckoned him inside. The man hesitated to follow, but he was obviously there for a reason, and he didn't seem like he'd accomplished his goal. He followed. And so did I.

If I thought the front yard was weird, the living room was in a whole league of its own in weirdness. Mirrors and candles were everywhere. Images of the old woman and the young man assaulted my vision from every angle but I didn't have a reflection since I wasn't actually there. On the mantle was an old clock that had long since stopped working, which was covered in about an inch of dust so I couldn't even see the clock face. Next to it was an old and extremely faded photograph, but it seemed to be of a young boy. He looked very like the man visiting the woman now, so I suspected the young boy in the picture was her son, possibly the "Luke" the woman had referred to when greeting the man. However, that was impossible; this woman was far too old to be this man's mother, besides which the man certainly was not acting like the woman was his mother. Perhaps the woman had Alzheimer's and had mistaken the man for her son? It seemed possible, given how similar they looked, but I felt like there was something deeper going on here.

Have you ever tried to think of a word and it's on the tip of your tongue but you just can't remember it? That's the feeling I had now. There was something very familiar about the name Luke in conjuncture with the name written on the front door: Castellan. But for the life of me, I couldn't place it.

"Well, come on dear," she said, steering the man toward the back of the house. "I always told them you'd come back. I always knew." The man looked frightened now. Of course, it wasn't showing on his face, but I could tell nonetheless. An at-ease individual does not rest a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Once again, I followed the strange pair of people. The woman led the man into the kitchen, which was probably the most disgusting place I'd ever been in. Thousands of Tupperware containers covered every surface: tables, counters, even in stacks on the floor, only leaving a small path to walk down. Inside were sandwiches, which were almost universally green and fuzzy. The only surface not covered in sandwich boxes was the oven, because on top of the oven, trays and trays of burnt cookies were stacked to the ceiling. That wasn't even the worst of it. Imagine smelling the feet of the most unhygienic person you know after they'd trudged through piles of manure in bare feet. Then multiply that by ten, and you still wouldn't even get close to how disgusting this room smelled. If I wasn't there in dream, I would've puked.

The man looked like he was going to upchuck, too. For a brief moment a look of complete and utter disgust crossed his face before he regained his look of composure and apathy. The hand on his sword hilt tightened. "Ma'am," the man said. "You are Ms. Castellan, correct?"

"Of course, dear," the woman said, smiling at him. "But I'm just mom, remember?"

"You're not my mother," the man growled. "I am not your son."

"But of course you are, dear," the old woman responded, smiling brightly. "You don't need to pretend anymore. I'm safe now. Your father promised me that I was safe now. And that you were too."

"You mean Hermes?" the man asked. "He's been here?"

"Oh yes," she said fondly. "He checks up on me often." But the dreamy look on her face became clouded. "He hasn't been in a long time, though."

Hermes. Castellan. Luke. I was missing something. What was it? What was I missing? It was like a puzzle piece had dropped out of the universe. I wanted to bash my head against the wall.

"You can see through the Mist, right?" the man pressed. "That's what attracted the attention of Hermes, wasn't it?"

"Why yes, dear," she said, smiling again. "You remember the story. I was so special that they offered me a special job."

"As the Oracle," the man clarified.

"Yes, that's right," the woman said, remembering. "They offered for me to become the Oracle. That's how good I was!" The image of this strange old woman as the Oracle sent shivers down my spine. The last Oracle was a woman named Rachel Dare, a good friend of my parents. I couldn't imagine anyone more different from Rachel Dare than this woman. "But as you know, dear, it didn't work out. Your father didn't want me to try it. He said that it was far too dangerous. I had to, though! It was my destiny."

"You said it didn't work out," the man said. "Could you explain a bit more about that?" While his expression didn't change, I could see a strange light behind his eyes. It seemed that they were getting close to the topic that he'd come here to discuss with this strange old woman.

"Well, dear, you know what happened," she said. "It left me with images in my head…" She trailed off, seeming to have lost her train of thought. Then she remembered that she had said she was going to feed the man whom she believed to be her son. "Cookies, dear?"

"No, thank you," the man said impatiently. I couldn't blame him; burnt cookies are the worst. "You saw images, you said. Those are images of the future. Can you remember any of them?"

She squinted, trying to remember. "I… I… AHHH!" She screamed. Her eyes suddenly were glowing bright green. I gasped in surprise and alarm. The man jumped backwards in surprise, but the excited look from behind his eyes remained. In fact, the look was even brighter now. It was the strangest mixture I'd ever seen, equal parts excitement bordering on longing and fear bordering on terror.

" _My son!_ " she rasped, her voice deep and resonant all of a sudden. " _Must protect my son! Not his fate! Hermes, help! Not his fate!_ "

"Can you see anything else?" the man asked. "Anything at all? Something about alignment?"

" _Please, not my son, he doesn't deserve it! Please help! Not his fate!"_

The man's strange mixture of excitement and fear dissolved, only to be replaced by anger. He did not hide his anger very well. "I don't give a damn about your son!" he roared, sweeping his arm through a pile of Tupperware containers, which fell to the floor with a massive ruckus, spilling out their moldy sandwiches. "Can you see anything about alignment?!" The man shoved the old woman against the counter. As crazy as she was, she definitely did not deserve such rough treatment. No one did. I gritted my teeth.

Ms. Castellan, however, only continued, " _Please, not my son! Help! Please!"_

I could tell the man's anger had become uncontrollable. He'd come here for something other than endless rants about Ms. Castellan's son. He'd come asking about some kind of alignment. It seemed he wasn't going to get his answer. He drew his sword and I gasped in surprise. I had thought for sure, when I'd first seen him outside, that it was made out of Celestial Bronze, but it wasn't. It was a plain steel sword. He'd brought it _specifically_ to use on the woman. I wanted to run at the man right then, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. I would probably pass right through him if I tried. I knew what was about to happen, and I turned away. I didn't want to see it.

There was a swish, and Ms. Castellan's voice stopped. There was a sickening thud on the floor. The man reentered my sight, striding past me in a huff. It seemed I had no choice but to follow. And follow I did. He exited out onto the porch and drew from his pocket a cell phone. It was a five year old model, except his was brand new. I vaguely wondered if this had happened a long time ago.

The man pressed a button and held the device to his ear. "It's me… No, she was a dead end, we'll have to try something else… I killed her… I don't give a damn about that, I need to find answers, and I couldn't risk the off chance that she'd tell somebody about me. She probably goes to the store to buy supplies for the sandwiches." He said sandwiches like it was the most repulsive word to ever leave his lips. "…I'll explain later," he continued, probably answering a question about the sandwiches comment. "Secrecy is key at this stage… Yeah… Well it's not like anybody is going to come by and find her. Hermes was the only one that ever visited her, and it seems that even he stopped… Alright… Yeah, I'll be back at headquarters soon… Bye." He tapped the screen again and ended the call.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Castellan," he mumbled. "You proved to be of no use to me. And I cannot abide useless things." With that, the man strode off the porch and left the Castellan property.

I sat up in a cold sweat, back in the nurse's office at my school.

* * *

 **AN: And that's it! Thanks for sticking around till the end. Leave a review, won't ya? It'd mean the world to me if you did :)  
Anyway, see you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: I Eavesdrop on My Parents

**AN: Hello hello! I hope everyone is doing okay! Have you guys been paying attention to E3 this year? If you have, tell me what your favorite game announcement has been! I'd like to thank new reviewer Madgirl013, as well as my returning reviewers, and everyone else who's read my story so far. You guys rock :)**

 **Speaking of reviews, last chapter XxDarkDalekXx left me some questions, so I'll endeavor to answer them without spoilers.  
I'm going to just paraphrase. Q: Firstly, DarkDalek wanted to know who Elizabeth is more like: Percy or Annabeth.  
A: Well, I was aiming for her, personality wise, to be more like Annabeth, but only slightly. She's got Annabeth's intelligence and is a very strong thinker, but she has some of Percy's personality traits as well, especially his impulsiveness. I hope as the book goes on you get to see that.**

 **Q: Whose powers does she have more of?  
A: Well descendents of Athena don't really have special powers besides being more on the intelligent side than most of their peers. As you've already seen, she does have water-based powers like her father. I don't want to go into too much detail about the extent of her powers because spoilers, but you are right to point out that it would be harder for her to use her powers.**

 **Q: Does she have all of Poseidon's powers? Can she breathe under water?  
A: Again, you'll see the full extent of her powers as both this entry and the entire series continues. However, I will say this. Percy Jackson is, in my opinion, one of the most over powered demigods in this world. I'm not saying that as a negative about his character, but to point out that even by the standards of that universe, Percy is exceptionally powerful. Thus, Elizabeth and Matt both have great potential. They'll never be able to match Percy, but they have great potential. However, for Elizabeth, the greater the use of her powers, the greater the consequences.**

 **I hope I answered your questions. I avoided any major spoilers, and as I said more will be revealed as the story continues. If you have any more questions, or if anyone else has questions, feel free to ask and I'll answer them in the next chapter :)**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. Here's more from Elizabeth. DFTBA!**

Chapter 3: I Eavesdrop on My Parents

I breathed deeply, my vision blurry for a few minutes. "Whoa, easy there," a voice said. I rubbed my eyes and looked up again. My dad stood next to my bed. "You doing okay?" That was a loaded question if I ever heard one.

I ran a quick check. I was sweaty, likely from my dream, but my stomach ache was gone, and my headache, while still there, was nearly negligible. "Yeah, I think so," I said. I was still confused and lost. Having a dream about an old lady getting killed can do that. And then I gasped. "Dad! I did it! I unlocked Pos- I mean uh…" Maybe talking about Poseidon's powers within the earshot of mortals wasn't the best idea I ever had.

Dad raised his eyebrows and shot me the smallest of smirks. "I heard about the water pipes. I'm very interested to hear your story. In the car, though."

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"When the nurse called, she said you were asleep, so I figured I'd let you rest and pick you up when I came for your brother," he said. "Think you can stand?" I did so, but my one shoulder felt heavy. I looked to the side and noticed that the ice bag was still strapped to my shoulder, though it had all melted by now. How I'd missed that when I checked myself over before, I have no clue. I slipped out of the school's bed, which I finally realized was really uncomfortable, and followed my father out of the nurse's room.

Matt was waiting outside the door, leaning against the wall, texting. "Who you texting?" I teased. "Your girlfriend?"

"Shut up," Matt commented. "It was just Sierra." His cheeks turned pink. It was a not-so-well-kept secret that Matt had a crush on Sierra. The only people that it was a secret from were Sierra and Matt himself. Sometimes people were the most oblivious about themselves. "Anyway, what happened with you?" he said, trying to change the subject quickly.

"Patience, little brother," I responded. "Prying ears," I added in a whisper.

After a few minutes, we'd made it to the car and were on the way home. I told dad and Matt everything that had happened earlier, although I played down the amount of danger I was in. I think dad realized that, and I was sure he'd had practice doing the same thing with his mom. I left out the part about my dream. It still bothered me, and for some reason, I felt like it was something that I needed to figure out on my own.

"That's awesome Elizabeth!" dad exclaimed after I'd finished telling him what happened. "I mean, not that you were attacked, but that you have Poseidon's powers."

I grinned. "Thanks. I'm really happy about it." And I was. But my head was also swirling around in a whirlpool moving at a million miles an hour, so it was hard to hang on to any individual feeling for long.

"I'm curious about the extent of your powers," Matt chimed in from the back. "You said that the water soaked you, right?"

"Yeah," I responded, not entirely sure where he was going.

"Well, the thing is," Matt explained, "dad and I – we don't get wet in water unless we want to. And also, you said that you got sick afterwards, right? So what can you do and what can't you do? And what are the repercussions?"

I frowned. I hadn't realized that. For all of my inquisitiveness, I had never asked whether dad and Matt got wet. I just kind of assumed they did, same as everyone else. As for the part about getting sick, that was also something I was thinking about. And the way I fell asleep so quickly – my body had proved that it couldn't handle using my grandfather's powers. So what _could_ I do?

"I don't know about all that," dad said. "I'm not much of a thinker."

"You're a professor of Marine Biology at NYU," I pointed out.

"Okay but…" dad faltered, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. I giggled. Dad was a lot smarter than he let on, but he was also an idiot sometimes. "I guess a better word would be _speculator._ I'm not much of a speculator. I don't know what this means about you or what powers you do or don't have. But I do have a suggestion."

"What's that?" I asked.

"I know you were going to move into the Athena cabin this summer," dad started.

"But you think I should move into the Poseidon cabin?" I finished. I'd been thinking the same thing. To be honest, I'd always kind of wanted to be in the Poseidon cabin, but I was worried I wouldn't fit in without powers.

Dad nodded. Then hit the brakes, lay his hand on the horn, and cursed at the guy who'd just cut him off. After he'd calmed down a bit and we were maneuvering our way through hectic New York traffic again, he continued. "There are a couple of campers in that cabin, if memory serves. I guess they're technically my siblings, but I've never met them. Anyway, my point is that they could probably help you. Teach you about Poseidon's powers. Maybe help you not pass out every time you use them. Obviously the choice is still yours."

"No, I was thinking the same thing," I said.

"Well you don't have to make your decision until we actually get you to Camp tomorrow," dad said. "So you've got a little bit of time to think."

Before long we were back at the apartment building, pulling into the underground parking complex. After we got into the elevator and dad swiped his ID card through the scanner, we rode up to our floor and went into our apartment.

"Alright guys," dad said, "we've still got a couple hours until Jason brings Sierra and Augustus over, so you know, do whatever. I'm going to try to figure out what I'm making for dinner…"

Matt and I laughed and dashed upstairs. I was planning on going into my room, turning on some music, and thinking. I always think better when there's music playing. Matt, however, had a different idea. "Wanna go a round?" he asked.

Now that was tempting. Okay, let me explain. My family's apartment is actually three stories tall. The first is the living room, dining room, kitchen, and balcony. The second is the bedrooms. The third floor has our sparring room. The sparring room kind of served the purposes of a gym. The floors were covered in mats. In the back, there was a whole rack of practice weapons, mostly swords. It was very important to our parents that Matt and I know how to defend ourselves.

Matt, of course, was a naturally swordsman. He moved with uncanny speed and intuition. I was definitely good, there was no doubt about that, but I had to work hard at it. Sword play didn't come as easily to me. I had to fight tooth and nail for every inch I gained every time I sparred with Matt. And I hardly ever won, though I could fight Matt to a draw sometimes; when you're a natural, you tend to not work as hard and make stupid mistakes. But passing up a challenge from your sibling is hard. And besides, I hadn't really worked out in a couple of weeks. I mean, I'd been to gym class, but come on, how much of a workout is gym _really_?

I bit my lip. "Alright," I said. "You're on. Let me change real quick first. Meet you up there?"

"Deal," Matt said.

After changing into gym clothes I darted upstairs. Matt had already changed into gym shorts and was hacking away at one of the dummies with his favorite practice sword: a blade in the style of a Roman gladius. "Well that dummy won't be bothering anyone anymore," I commented snidely.

Matt turned and stuck his tongue out at me. "You're damn right it won't. Now grab your sword, I'm not waiting all day."

I walked over to the weapons rack and picked up my preferred practice sword: the slightly longer Greek xiphos, like dad's sword Riptide.

I stood facing Matt, my sword at the ready. "Ladies first," I taunted.

"No, please," Matt teased back. "Age before beauty, I insist."

I rolled my eyes. Either I could attack, or we could be poking fun at each other all day. I decided to attack. I lunged forward quickly before Matt could get his guard up. I almost beat him right then, but he managed to throw up his sword and deflect my blade. Our swords clashed ferociously for a few minutes, evenly matched. Before long, though, Matt had managed to increase the pressure and put me on the ropes. I knew I had to make a big play or he would win. Again.

I saw my opening. I dropped to my knees, causing Matt's horizontal swipe to pass clean over my head. Then I did something that wasn't technically within the bounds of sword fighting. I dropped my sword and pounced at his legs. The sudden tackle caught my brother off-guard. He dropped his gladius and fell to the ground. For a couple of minutes, the two of us were a jumbled heap of limbs. But then Matt extricated himself and scooped up a sword. My sword, as a matter of fact. I scooped up his, sprung to my feet and met his lunge.

"Nice job," Matt panted as we both backed up, creating a lull in our fight. "I really wasn't expecting that. Although, tackling me was kinda against the rules."

"There are no rules in a real sword fight," I responded quickly. "You've got to be prepared for anything, little brother. How's the longer sword treating you?"

He swung my practice sword around awkwardly. "It feels off balance," he commented. "But I'll make it work." And with that we were at it again. This time, Matt was being even more aggressive than before. Our swords collided once, twice, and… our hilts interlocked, and with an almighty twist, Matt wrenched my sword from my hands. The blade went skittering across the room, and I found myself with the point of a practice blade under my chin.

"Good job, big sis," Matt commented, lowering the sword.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped back. No matter how many times I lost to him, it still sucked; losing to your little brother just seems inherently _wrong_.

We put away the practice swords and Matt tossed me a water bottle. We sat on the floor, drinking our water and catching our breath. Matt poured some of the water over his blond hair and it hung long around his face. I was just thinking that he seriously needed a haircut when he spoke. "Hey, Elizabeth," Matt said.

"Hm?" I grunted through a mouthful of water.

"Why do you think it took you so long to finally use Poseidon's powers?" Matt asked.

I just shrugged. Honestly, I'd been wondering that, too. I'd been wondering about my lack of powers for years. But to suddenly get them confused me even more. "I don't know. Gods don't have DNA like mortals, so trying to understand it like that doesn't work."

"I know that, it's just… you'd think that either you would've gotten them as early as I did or not gotten them at all. It just doesn't make sense."

"I agree," I said. "Maybe I'll ask if I ever meet Grandpa Poseidon."

We sat in silence for a little while longer, which Matt broke again. "For the longest time, I thought that I only had Poseidon's powers and you only had Athena's. But now you have both… So I guess that makes me second best."

"What?" That took me by surprise. I had always thought I was second best because Matt had the water powers and I didn't. Besides, Matt definitely _did_ have some of the Athena intelligence. Maybe not as pronounced as me, but it was there. "Matt, you're really smart, too. And besides, you have complete control of your Poseidon powers. I don't. If anyone is second best it's me."

Matt shrugged. "I dunno. Next to you, I'm not that smart. And anyway, I'm the youngest. You've always done everything first. When I do something new it's not as big a deal."

"I didn't use my water powers first," I commented. "And you're wrong. Every time you do something it's just as big a deal as when I did the same thing."

Matt shrugged, unconvinced. "I don't know about all that. But," he sprung upwards, "that's enough mopey talk. I'mma hop in the shower before you can get there." And he was gone just like that. I had never met anyone whose mood could change as quickly as my little brother's. I sighed and pulled myself to my feet, figuring I should head back downstairs and get ready for when Matt got out of the shower.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of the Grace family. I ran to the front door, eager to see my best friend. I yanked the door open, and sure enough, there they were. Four of the five Graces. Mom and Aunt Piper were still at their meeting. Uncle Jason cut an impressive figure as always, standing a couple inches taller than my dad and even better built.

Coming in behind him were the three Grace children: the twins, Augustus and Sierra, and their younger brother Riley. Augustus and Sierra took after Aunt Piper more than Uncle Jason, with perfectly tanned skin, chocolate brown hair, and the most beautiful faces you'll ever see. I suppose Gus was _handsome_ rather than beautiful, but I refused to think of the prick that way. The main difference they had with their mother were the eyes: sky blue like their father.

Riley Grace, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was the spitting image of Uncle Jason, with the exception of the eyes, which were a kaleidoscope like Aunt Piper's. When I looked at him, shivers went down my spine as I remembered Ms. Castellan's kaleidoscope eyes. Unlike his older siblings, Riley could not Charmspeak. He made up for this, though, by being able to harness both of Jupiter's main powers: lightning and wind. The twins, though they could both Charmspeak, each only had one of those. Sierra had gotten lightning and Gus had gotten wind. In my opinion, Sierra had definitely got the better end of the stick on that one.

"Hey!" I said, pulling Sierra into a tight hug.

"Oh hey Augustus, nice to see you," Gus mumbled behind her. "Oh hey, Elizabeth, good to see you too." See, what did I tell you? Prick.

I ignored him. "How are you?" I asked Sierra.

"Pretty good," she said. "I'm really excited to be heading out to California tomorrow!"

"I'm heading out to California, too," Riley butted in. "Mom and dad are taking me to see Emily and Hannah after we drop Sierra off at the Wolf House!"

"I heard," I said. "Tell them hi for me!"

"Will do," Riley said excitedly.

"Hey, kiddo," Uncle Jason said, giving me a hug. "Excited to go to Camp tomorrow?"

"You bet!" I exclaimed.

Uncle Jason grinned. "Good. Camp Half-Blood is a beautiful place. You and Augustus will love it."

"Yeah, speaking of me," Gus piped up, "where am I putting my bag?"

"You have to hold it until we leave tomorrow, Gus," I deadpanned.

"Oh ha," Gus said sarcastically. "Since I can't expect to get a straight answer out of you, Beth" - I glared at him; I _hated_ being called Beth - "I'll just go ask your brother. Where is Matt anyhow?"

Notice how he complained about me answering him and then asked me another question? Dunce. "He's in his room," I said, shutting down an argument before one developed. I didn't want to ruin Sierra's going away dinner. "That's where you'll be sleeping anyhow," I reluctantly added.

"What's he still doing up there?" Riley asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe he didn't hear me open the door?"

"Well, I'm gonna go say hi to him, too," Riley said, and he followed his older brother upstairs.

"Your dad in the kitchen?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "And judging by the black smoke coming out from underneath the door, he probably needs you to bail him out." Uncle Jason laughed, then headed over to the kitchen door to go see my dad. I turned back to Sierra. "I've got a lot to tell you."

"Since we talked last night?" she asked.

"Yeah! A lot happened today!" And so I told Sierra everything that had happened today, but once again I left out my dream. I still didn't know why, but the dream felt… personal somehow. Like I was the only one who was allowed to know what was in it. It was the first time I could remember not telling Sierra about something, and it made me feel uncomfortable and guilty.

"Wow," Sierra said. "You weren't kidding."

"I know, right?" I said. "And I still don't really understand everything. Like, why did I just get Poseidon's powers now?"

"Hm… That is very odd," Sierra said. "I mean, how do we inherit these powers at all, anyway? Like… It's just weird."

"I know," I said. "I can't even begin to wrap my head around it…" I trailed off, lost in thought and confusion. Sierra, too, sat silently. "But enough about me. You're going off to California tomorrow. Must be exciting!" I tried to be upbeat about it, but in truth I was really sad. I mean, my best friend was moving clear across the country, and it wasn't like I could fly. The chances that Zeus would blast me out of the sky were pretty high.

Sierra gave me a small smile. She opened her mouth to respond, when the three boys came tramping down the stairs laughing loudly. Of course, Matt stopped immediately when he saw Sierra and lit up red. "Oh, hey, Sierra. How uh… how are you?"

"Pretty good," she said, smiling brightly at Matt. "You had your last final today, right? How do you think you did?"

"Uh, pretty well, I think," Matt said. "Riley, Augustus, and I were going to play video games. Do you two wanna join us?" I rolled my eyes. If Sierra hadn't been here, Matt wouldn't have thought about inviting me to play with them (because some people apparently still assumed girls didn't play video games), but Matt was a lot more careful about that around Sierra. Whether it was because he had a crush on her or because she could zap him with lightning I wasn't sure. Perhaps it was a combination of the two.

"I'm good," Sierra said.

"Yeah, Sierra sucks at video games anyway," Gus taunted.

At that, Sierra's eyebrows shot up so fast I'm surprised they didn't achieve escape velocity and go flying off into space. And suddenly all five of us found ourselves playing a game together. After Sierra made her point by winning the first six rounds - never accuse her of sucking at anything, you'd think Gus would've learned that by now - she and I excused ourselves out to the balcony.

The New York skyline was bathed in oranges and reds from the setting sun. It was actually quite beautiful. We leaned against the railing, watching the sun set for a few minutes. "I'm gonna miss you," I said finally. "I know I've told you that before, but I will."

"I know," Sierra sighed. "I'll miss you, too. But I honestly think that this is the right choice for me. I really really do."

"I know."

"Besides, it isn't like we'll _never_ see each other again. There are always weekend trips from Camp Jupiter to Camp Half-Blood and vice versa. I'll see you before you know it."

"Yeah," I said. "That'll be nice. Listen, just make sure to have a safe trip. Don't get into any trouble or anything this summer."

Sierra laughed. "I never get into any trouble. You're the one who's the trouble magnet. I can usually just talk my way out of problems."

I scoffed. "Using Charmspeak to 'talk yourself out of problems' is totally cheating."

She laughed again. "Maybe, but it works. At any rate, I'm the one that should be telling you to stay out of trouble so… yeah. Do that. Stay out of trouble."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Girls!" Dad called outside. "Dinner's ready!"

Dinner was a busy affair. We ended up ordering pizza from down the street because neither dad nor Uncle Jason could fix the mess dad had managed to cause trying to _make_ dinner. How you screw up spaghetti _that_ badly, I don't know. Mom and Aunt Piper gave them hell when they joined us, and we all laughed and talked like we always did. Dinner at the Jackson residence was always a noisy affair.

* * *

Later that night I lay in bed, unable to sleep, my head swirling with an impossible number of emotions; I was excited to be going to camp, sad that Sierra was gone, confused about my powers, and worried about the dream I'd had. In short: I was a mess.

"Shut up," I said aloud to my brain. "We've got to sleep."

I tossed and turned. And, inevitably, my throat started to feel dry. I sighed. I knew that if I got out of bed to get some water, I wouldn't be sleeping for another hour or so. But if I didn't get some water, who knew how long it would be until I managed to sleep. It could be even longer than that. I sighed again and sat up, swinging my legs out of bed.

I quietly went down the stairwell and was about to enter the kitchen when I heard my parents' voices. Normally I didn't eavesdrop, but something compelled me to stay and listen at the door. And when you're descended from the gods, you learn to follow your instincts.

"How is that possible?" mom was saying. "How did she just disappear?"

I imagined my dad shrugging, "I don't know, Wise Girl," he said, "but if she doesn't turn back up soon, there'll be hell to pay. Literally."

Mom sighed. "Why are we always the ones to clean up the gods' messes? Can't someone else do it?"

"Chiron told Leo that he doesn't want it to divide Camp, and you know it will. The Romans don't know either, as far as he can tell. Besides, what's life without a little adventure?"

Mom snorted. "I've had more than enough adventure for a lifetime, Seaweed Brain. And this just seems… impossible. How did anyone steal a goddess?"

 _Steal a goddess?_ Someone had kidnapped a goddess? But how…?

"How does anyone steal the Masterbolt?" dad responded. I remembered his story about his very first quest. Some camper had stolen Zeus's Masterbolt for Kronos, and he'd been blamed. I couldn't remember who exactly had been the one to steal it, but dad had managed to clear his name. "Look, there's no point worrying about it now. After we drop Elizabeth and Augustus off at Camp tomorrow, we'll go meet up with Leo. He and Festus will pick us up."

"What about Matt?"

"I told mom that you and I would have to be out of town for a couple of days," dad said. "She was already going to watch him while we took Elizabeth to Camp. She doesn't mind keeping Matt until we get back."

Mom yawned. "Well, if we're leaving on a quest tomorrow, we should probably get some rest."

Dad yawned, too. "Yeah, probably."

I heard them coming towards the door and stood right behind where the door would swing out. Luckily, they didn't turn around as they made their way upstairs. When I heard the door to their room close I finally let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding and slid down the wall. So, someone had kidnapped a goddess? How had anyone managed that? But perhaps more disconcerting was that it had happened recently. Perhaps today, which seemed like way too big of a coincidence.

Mrs. Dimitri had said something about her master. Was her master the one who had kidnapped a goddess? It seemed possible. And in the world of gods and monsters, coincidences were nearly impossible. That meant that my dream was linked somehow, too…

Well, so much for sleeping.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! See you all next time!**


	4. Chapter 4: I Meet Some New Friends

**AN: I know I only promised one chapter a week, but I really enjoyed putting out two chapters last week. So yeah, you get a second chapter this week, too. Yay! Anyway, thanks especially to all my reviewers, but also thanks to everyone who's read my story so far! I don't have much else to say, so on with the show! DFTBA!**

Chapter 4: I Meet Some New Friends

I was silent the entire ride to Camp. I was exhausted, and my mind was still whirling with all of the things that had happened yesterday. Mom kept looking back at me from the passenger's seat with a worried expression on her face. Moms are observant like that. Meanwhile, Gus kept going on and on about how excited he was, and he kept asking my parents questions about Camp.

"You'll find out when we get there," dad kept saying with a chuckle.

"How long until we get there?" Gus asked.

"Only ten more minutes, Augustus," dad replied. "Hang in there."

We were driving through empty farmland. It was wild to think that right outside of the City, there was a whole lot of nothing. I stared at the empty fields, trying to push all of my wild thoughts to the back of my head. We were going to be at Camp soon! I should've been excited. But my head just kept running loops through the same thoughts that all lead me back to the same conclusion: it couldn't be a coincidence that everything happened at once.

Finally, dad pulled the car over to the side of the road. We were at the bottom of a hill, at the top of which stood a singular pine tree. In the lower branches of the tree, something glittered. And wrapped around the tree was a massive dragon. I gasped despite myself.

"Cool!" Augustus cried out.

We clambered out of the car and pulled our things from the trunk. Augustus bounded up the hill as quickly as his legs would carry him, dad following at a leisurely stroll. I was about to follow, too, but mom put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong? You were so excited before, what happened?"

I bit my lip. I didn't know what to say. For some reason, I didn't even feel like I could tell mom about my dream, and I told mom _everything_. I definitely didn't want to mention that I'd eavesdropped on her and dad last night. "I've just… got a lot on my mind," I said, which was true.

Mom sighed. "You're worried that I'm upset you've decided to stay in the Poseidon cabin?" The thought had actually never crossed my mind. I opened my mouth to respond, but mom kept going. "You shouldn't be. I don't care what cabin you stay in, as long as you have a good time, okay?"

I almost told my mom that that's not what I'd been worried about, and I opened my mouth to say so, but at the last second I changed my mind. "Thanks, mom," I lied. "I was worried about it."

Mom smiled. "Well you didn't need to. Remember, you can talk to me about anything."

And with that, I was slammed with guilt. But I smiled and followed her up the hill. I needed to be more careful. Besides, we were _at Camp_. It was about time to be excited.

Luckily, when I reached the top of the hill, the sight of camp spread out below was so amazing that I forgot everything else. It was incredible. A mess of cabins surrounded a wide central green, where I could see campers and satyrs playing volleyball and basketball. There was a lake with a small stream that ran into it from the woods, which were massive in their own right. There was an amphitheater, a stadium, a chariot-racing track, a shooting range, and nearly countless other buildings. Nearest to us was a large farm house with a wraparound porch. "Whoa," I said.

Dad grinned at me. "Beautiful, isn't it? Come on, let's get down to the Big House. Check you guys in."

As we followed dad down the hill, we passed by a group of campers practicing a phalanx formation. Several of them stopped and stared at mom and dad as we passed by, whispering to each other. This prompted their commander to yell at them.

"Oi!" called out a female voice in a British accent. "Did I tell you to break formation?"

The response was too quiet for me to make out, but the leader's response was clear as day, "I don't care if it's the bloody President of the United States! If this were a real battle, you would've got us all killed! Start over!"

Mom chuckled. "Some things never change."

Gus was looking around in awe, and for once I couldn't blame him for making a total fool of himself. Camp Half-Blood was the most amazing place that I'd ever seen. A few campers stopped us to get autographs from my parents, which was really freaking annoying, but we finally got to the porch of the Big House. Down the porch, sitting around a table, were four people. I recognized two of them. "Uncle Grover! Chiron!"

The Satyr and the Centaur (who was in his wheelchair) smiled at me as I ran up to embrace them. "How are you my girl?" Chiron asked as I pulled back. He smiled. His beard was more scraggly than it had been the last time I'd seen him, but otherwise he was exactly the same as I remembered. Grover, too, had not changed much. He was still wearing the same nature-pun t-shirts, and had massive horns sprouting from his head, his long curly hair not even close to hiding them.

Grover bleated at me. "Elizabeth! Long time no see!"

"It's great to see you guys!" I said, grinning widely.

"It appears that rudeness runs in the family," a voice grumbled. At this point, Gus was hugging Chiron and Grover. He'd apparently already said hello to this man. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure I knew who it was. There was one person that mom and dad did _not_ speak fondly of in their stories about Camp, and I'm pretty sure this was him. If I hadn't known better, I'd say the man was an alcoholic. He was small, but rather fat. His nose was bright red and his face was flushed. His bloodshot eyes were watery and the dude's fashion sense left a lot to be desired. Hawaiian shirts had been out of style for eighty years (if they'd ever been in style at all) and this particular leopard print one was especially disgusting. This was the first time I'd ever met a god, and the experience left a lot to be desired. The "great" Dionysus sneered at me. "So, you're Peter Johnson's brat."

"Don't call my daughter a brat!" dad snapped. His pen was in his hand, which is a lot more intimidating than it sounds.

Mr. D glowered at my father. Right when I thought my dad was toast, the fourth person at the table cleared her throat. The girl leaned back on two feet in her chair. She looked sixteen, maybe seventeen, and she caught my attention so quickly that I wondered how I'd moved past without a second glance. Her feet were propped up on the table, in converse sneakers that were painted like the blue box from Doctor Who. She wore black leggings that went up into a denim skirt with the ever-envied invention of _pockets_. Seriously, why did no one make girls' clothes with pockets that were _actually useful?_ Her shirt was the standard Camp orange t-shirt, but she'd written poems all over it in sharpie. There were too many for me to make out many, but one looked suspiciously like the Prophecy of Seven, which my parents had been a part of. The girl's short hair was a vibrant teal color, and her eyes laughed at me from their sockets. She smiled with her thin lips, "I apologize for Mr. D's grumpiness. He _hates_ move in day." The girl pulled her feet off the table and let the chair clunk back onto all-fours as she stood up. The girl held out her hand to me and shook it. "The name's Gwendolyn Bennet. I'm the Oracle."

"So you're the girl who replaced Rachel Dare?" Annabeth asked. "She told me that you would make a great Oracle just after she retired."

Gwendolyn's face lit up. "Thank you ma'am. In the short time I knew her, Rachel always spoke very highly of you two," she said, nodding at my father.

Mr. D grumbled something about the gods being ignored, and what was this world coming to, and yada yada yada. "Oh, put a cork in," Gwendolyn said. She looked at Mr. D as if daring to incinerate her, which he couldn't do since she was the Oracle. Mr. D looked at the girl with loathing, but he sighed and stood up.

"I'm going inside to play PacMan," he grumbled, and left. I decided that I quite liked Gwendolyn.

Augustus had just finished speaking to Chiron and he turned to introduce himself to Gwendolyn. She shook his hand as well. "Pleasure to meet you, Emperor." Gus looked confused, then blushed. The idiot could be so slow sometimes. I realize that that probably sounded endearing, but trust me it was not.

"So," Uncle Grover said, "what do you guys think? Was it everything you imagined?"

I laughed. "It's better!"

Gus agreed and added, "And we've not even gotten the grand tour yet!"

"Gwendolyn," Chiron said, "would you please rectify that? Grover and I would like to catch up with Percy and Annabeth." His tone of voice was light, but his smile was forced. And since my parents had mentioned Chiron when I was eavesdropping on them, I knew they'd be talking more about the stolen goddess from last night.

"Sure thing," Gwendolyn said easily. "Come on, you two. You can leave your bags. Someone will take them to you cabins for you. By the way, which cabins are you two going to be staying in?"

"The Zeus cabin," Gus said without any hesitation.

I paused. I knew I wouldn't be able to take back this choice. But I made it anyway. "Poseidon."

Gwendolyn nodded. "Just as I'd foreseen." When I reacted in surprise, she added, "I'm joking. I say that all the time. Gives people the willies. Well, come on, then. Time's a-wasting."

I quickly hugged my parents goodbye, and ran off to follow Gwendolyn and Augustus.

* * *

I'd be lying if I said I thought about my parents or the stolen goddess or anything else that I'd been dwelling on all morning as Gwendolyn showed us around Camp. What I experienced instead was a combination of joy, amazement, and excitement. Camp had _everything_. A rock climbing wall, an arena, volleyball pits, a racing track, a forge, and even a giant bunker out in the woods. We visited the shrine of the Athena Parthenos, which my mom had discovered. It was tall and stately and emanated a powerful aura. Of course, it was at the archery range that I met two people who would very quickly become my friends.

What attracted our attention was the sound of raised voices. A tall blond guy was telling off a girl. The guy looked eighteen, maybe nineteen, and had a bow slung over his back. The girl he was telling off was definitely closer to my age. She was pretty, with wavy, shoulder-length caramel hair. She was slightly shorter than me, but she looked older, like she was farther along in puberty than me. She had the expression of someone who is pretending to be sorry for doing something wrong, but actually isn't sorry at all. Her hazel eyes were the giveaway.

"What's all the hubbub, George?" Gwendolyn called out as we approached.

George turned, his face still twisted with anger. Well actually it was closer to indignation upon a second inspection. "Jocelyn was shooting her revolver on the range _again_ even though I've told her before that this range was for _bow and arrows only_."

The girl, Jocelyn her name was, said, "Well, where else am I supposed to practice? Jacob banned me from Bunker 9 for two weeks."

"Because you stole his stuff," George responded, exasperated.

Jocelyn shrugged, not even denying it. "It's not my fault I'm the daughter of the thief god. Besides, I was going to give it all back when I was done with it."

George raised an eyebrow. "Right. Well at any rate, you can't practice with your gun here."

Jocelyn huffed and started to walk away. George turned to us. "Sorry about all that. New campers?" Gus and I nodded. George smiled and held out his hand. "George Epping, head counselor of the Apollo cabin. Nice to meet you." George seemed nice enough, but for some reason I found myself on Jocelyn's side of the argument, even though I knew nothing about either of them.

After we'd introduced ourselves, George called over someone. A gorgeous boy set down his bow. He had chocolate colored skin and hair that was close cropped. His sleeveless shirt showed off his quite impressive arm muscles. Even though he was clearly younger than George, this boy was almost as tall. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. I have a thing for taller guys, okay? But I tried to push the feeling aside. I may have been staying in the Poseidon cabin, but I was still a daughter of Athena. I was _not_ some dewy eyed school girl.

"This is Theo," George said, clapping him on the back. "Best damn archer at camp."

Theo blushed. "I don't know about that. But anyway, it's nice to meet you." He shook hands with me and Gus. I tried not to be disappointed when he let go of my hand. "New at camp? Know who your godly parents are yet?"

"Oh, we're uh… legacies actually," I managed.

"Yeah," Gus agreed. "Our parents are demigods."

George whispered something in Theo's ear. Theo balked. He wore his thoughts all over his face, which was cute. "Oh gods. Sorry, I didn't realize… wow, I guess I made a fool of myself, huh?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

"You're fine," I said quickly. He was _really_ fine. I mentally slapped myself.

"Anyway," Gwendolyn interjected, "we'd better continue with the tour. Nice to see you as always, George."

George nodded to her. "Likewise. Welcome to Camp, you two."

"See you round," Theo said, turning back to his archery.

"Bye," Gus and I chorused.

* * *

"This is our last stop," Gwendolyn said. "Cabins one and three, Zeus and Poseidon."

"Thanks for the tour, Gwen," Gus said, shaking her hand. His eyes were sparkling. Like me, he was excited beyond his wildest dreams.

"I prefer my full first name, actually," Gwendolyn said. "Anyway, I've gotta get going. Important Oracle stuff to see to." Then she bounded off, her teal hair blowing like crazy in the minute wind.

I turned to my cabin, my home for the summer. It wasn't grandiose, like Zeus's cabin, but I liked the simple, low stone building. Shells were embedded in the walls, and a whole bunch of windows looked out to Long Island Sound. Zeus's cabin, on the other hand, was over-the-top flashy. And I'm a Jackson; I know about over-the-top flashy. I didn't particularly like the cabin that looked like it was trying to masquerade as a temple. Or a mausoleum.

"Good luck with your cabin-mates," Gus said. "I guess I'll catch you later?" he added.

I managed a smile. He wasn't terrible all the time. "Yeah, see you later. Good luck with your cabin, too."

We stood there awkwardly for a minute, neither of us really knowing what to say. For some reason, I was struck with an almost overwhelming feeling of nostalgia for the days when Gus and I actually got along. But that had stopped not long after my tenth birthday. I nodded at him, then turned and entered my cabin.

The interior walls were made of abalone, and there was a fountain in the back of the long room. Then my cabin mates stood up and smiled. The older of the two looked seventeen, maybe eighteen. He was a well-built kid, standing at about six-one and ripped. His black hair was short, and his teal eyes glinted with humor. When he grinned at me, I saw he had dimples. "Nice to meet you," he said in a voice that sounded eerily similar to Captain America from the old Avengers films. "The name's Michael, or Mike, whichever you prefer: I'm not picky." He shook my hand.

The younger of the two was closer to my age, but she still had me by a year probably. She grinned at me too, her teeth perfectly straight and perfectly white. Her blonde hair was also straight and hung loosely around her shoulders. Her eyes were darker than Mike's, green rather than teal, but both sets of eyes reminded me of the sea. They both had a string necklace on which multicolor beads marking their years at Camp. "I'm Katherine," she said. She hugged me. "It's great to meet you. Your name's Elizabeth, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"We were so excited when they dropped your bags off here," Mike said. He was almost bouncing up and down. "When you dad walked in with your stuff I almost swooned. He's like… the most famous son of Poseidon to ever live!"

"My dad dropped off my bags?"

"Yeah!" Katherine said excitedly. "Said he wanted to see the place again. He looked around all nostalgicly and stuff. Mike and I were both frozen. And when he said you'd chosen to room _here_ instead of in the Athena cabin, we squeed."

Was squeed a word? "Is squeed even a word?"

Mike laughed. "I already like you. Come on, let's get you settled in. They showed me to my bunk, which had used to be my dad's apparently. There was a black and white horn mounted on the wall next to it. I looked at it, puzzled. "Minotaur," Mike answered. "That's the horn you dad ripped off the Minotaur with his bare hands when he was only twelve. He left it here, and Caitlyn, the Head Counselor of this cabin before me, decided it should stay over his old bunk."

"You can have a different bunk, if you'd like," Katherine said, waving her hand around the cabin. "It's just the three of us, so we've got plenty of space."

I decided that I was fine with my dad's old bunk. I had mixed feelings. These two seemed cool, but the fan girling over my dad was going to get real old, real quickly. I unpacked my stuff. Katherine and Mike had moved back to their own bunks. Mike was still unpacking. He'd apparently just gotten back, but based off of their conversation, Katherine was a year-rounder.

Once I had all my things squared away in my space, I turned to the other two. Katherine patted a spot on her bed, so I went and sat next to her. "So, guys," I said, nervous, "I have a confession to make. I'm… not very good with my water powers. I just discovered them yesterday, and I don't actually know how to control them."

I expected them to kick me out, tell me to go bunk with the Athena kids, but Mike just shrugged. "No biggie. I don't even have water powers."

"You don't?" I asked, amazed. And here I was, thinking that I'd be shunned. I felt pretty foolish now.

Mike nodded. "Yeah. In fact, I hate the water. My powers are based on the 'earthshaker' part of Poseidon. I do earthquakes, small tremors, that sort of thing, but I hate water."

"I, on the other hand, love water," Katherine said. "And I do have water powers. Maybe I can teach you to control yours at some point?"

I smiled. I decided I did quite like these two. Before I could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Mike got up and opened it. A guy strutted into the room, a cocky grin on his face. He was taller than Mike by about an inch, but wasn't quite as muscular. The new guy had golden hair and skin so tan it was just as golden as his hair. "So, this is the famous Elizabeth Jackson?" he said, his voice screaming the word pretentious. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Alex de Marco. I'm the head counselor of the Zeus cabin."

"What do you want, Alex?" Mike said shortly. Apparently Alex was not well-liked by my new bunk mates and I could already understand why.

Alex smiled wider. "Oh, I just wanted to make sure that the Poseidon cabin would be on the right side for this season's first game of capture the flag."

"Oh, don't worry," Mike said. "We'll be sure to be on whatever team the Zeus cabin _isn't_."

Alex's expression changed very quickly. The cocky smile was replaced with a sneer. "Fine, then. Enjoy mediocrity as always, Indigo." I realized that Indigo must be Mike's last name. Alex strode out. Mike slammed the door behind him.

"Man, I hate that guy," he said. "He's such an ass. 'Oh, I'm the son of Zeus, so you should all kiss my boots.' Ugh, he could do with a good butt-whooping." I agreed with Mike's sentiment. I'd only known Alex for about twelve seconds, but that was twelve seconds longer than I wanted to.

There was a beeping noise, and Mike pulled a phone from his pocket, which also happened one of my Uncle Leo's. He tapped the screen and started typing something. "Violet just moved back in," he said to us. "I'll catch up with you guys at dinner." He looked up from his phone. "I'll leave you in Katherine's excellent hands. Kat, make sure you don't get Elizabeth maimed. It'd be bad publicity for the Poseidon cabin if we got a Jackson injured."

Katherine rolled her eyes, and yelled playfully after him, "Don't call me Kat." Then, to me, "Violet's his girlfriend. She's the head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin. She's pretty cool, and she makes Mike really happy."

"You and Mike seem to get along really well," I commented. "How long have you known him?"

Katherine smiled. "Since I first got here four years ago."

Four years? That surprised me. "Wait, how old are you?" I asked.

"Fourteen," Katherine said. Only a year older than me. Which meant she was ten when she moved here. She had a sad look on her face, like she knew what I was thinking. "Yes, I came here when I was ten. Shortly after I was orphaned."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, frowning. That was… depressing to say the least.

"You don't need to apologize," Katherine assured me. "You didn't know. Anyway, there's a place I want to show you that isn't on the official Camp tour."

* * *

I followed Katherine deep into the woods. I didn't know how she could tell where she was going because there was no trail, but she led the way with absolute confidence. Wherever she was taking me, she'd definitely visited many times before. Eventually, the trees widened out, and we were in a clearing. Most of the clearing was taken up by the most peculiar building I'd ever seen. Parts of it were made out of wood, others out of stone, still others from metal or plastic. The building was three stories tall, but I couldn't tell how it was standing. The ramshackle building definitely _wasn't_ architecturally sound. The angles on the most important load-bearing joints were… well, I won't bore you with the details, but trust me it was bad.

"Welcome to Fort Stoll," Katherine said. "It was originally built about twenty five years ago by two Hermes campers named Stoll. See, they wanted to have a place where they could play video games without Chiron finding out. Technically, Camp has a strict 'no tech' rule. We're not even supposed to have cell phones on us, but no one enforces that rule. Anyway, when they first built it, it was just a small building, apparently. But over the years other Hermes campers have added onto it, and other cabins have contributed bits and pieces, too. For instance, electricity is provided via an underground cable to Bunker 9. A lot of campers know about the place, and I suspect that Chiron probably does, too, but if he does, he hasn't said anything."

"Wow," I said. "So this is like an island of modernity?"

Katherine nodded. "Yeah, sort of. There's a whole bunch of retro tech, too. One of the Hermes campers actually got his hands on an old PlayStation 4 a few years back." I raised my eyebrows. I didn't know a whole lot about PlayStation, but I was pretty sure they were on like… 8 or 9 by now. "But there's new stuff, too," Katherine continued. "Anyway, come inside!"

The interior of the building was just as ramshackle as the outside. A dim bulb provided light in the entry way. The rooms beyond were lit only by the large television screens and the light coming in through the gaps in the curtains. Katherine led me into one of the game rooms where a voice I recognized from earlier was yelling at the TV. "Come on! Really?! I call BS on that one!" It was Jocelyn. Her caramel hair was pulled back now. She yelled some choice expletives at the game she was playing, and I noticed for the first time that she had an extremely faint southern accent. But it was coming out more as she swore.

A doorway nearby opened, and someone else I recognized came out. It was Theo. My heart did a tap dance, which was stupid, not the least of which because I hate tap. Light streamed from the doorway, and I saw a large refrigerator. So this building had a kitchen. Theo was holding two cans of Coke. "Did you lose again, Joce?" he asked.

Jocelyn had thrown down the controller now and was pouting in her armchair. Neither of them had noticed Katherine or me yet. Katherine had a bemused expression on her face. Jocelyn stood up from the chair to stretch, and finally she noticed us.

"Oh, hey, Katherine," she said. "And… I don't know you. But I've seen you before…"

"She was down at the archery range when you were having that shouting match with George," Theo supplied. "Nice to see you again," he added, smiling brightly at me. I told my heart to stop being so stupid. It didn't listen.

"Right!" Jocelyn said. "Well, nice to actually meet you. The name's Jocelyn Clement." She extended a hand to me. I shook it.

"Elizabeth Jackson," I said. "Nice to actually meet you."

Theo handed Jocelyn one of the Cokes he was holding. "Can I get either of you anything?" he asked me and Katherine. "Only place on site where you can get genuine junk food," he informed me.

Katherine shook her head. "No thanks, I was just showing Elizabeth around. Besides, it's almost dinner time and I wanted to stop at the cabin before we went to the dining pavilion."

Theo glanced at his watch. "Holy Hera, it is almost dinner. Did you hear that, Jocelyn?"

Jocelyn had already clicked the continue button on her game. "Yeah, yeah. Dinner. I just gotta try this level one more time."

Theo sighed and rolled his eyes. "See you guys there."

Katherine and I bid the two of them ado and left Fort Stoll, making our way back to the Poseidon cabin. "You're friends with them?" I asked.

"Well, I'm friendly with them, anyway," Katherine said. "All three of us are year-rounders, see."

I nodded. That made sense, though I wondered what had happened to cause them all to leave their home lives. I was struck by how lucky I was by Camp Half-Blood standards. I had two parents who would give anything for me, and a brother who, though occasionally annoying, was overall pretty cool and got along well with me. I wondered how many campers here had no family to go home to, or had families that didn't accept them.

"I hang out with them from time to time," Katherine continued, "but we're not super close."

"They seemed pretty close," I observed.

"Oh yeah," Katherine said. "They're basically inseparable."

I gulped. "Are um… they dating?" I asked, afraid of the answer. I couldn't fault Theo there if they were. Jocelyn was prettier than me. Her eyes were inviting, and always seemed to be laughing. My eyes were the intimidating shade of Athena-grey. Not to mention that she was curvier than me; she basically looked like she was near the end of puberty. I was still in its throws. Acne spotted my face, whereas she only had one or two pimples.

Katherine laughed. "Theo and Jocelyn dating? Hahaha, that's a good one! No, of _course_ they aren't dating."

I felt a rush of relief. Then felt stupid for feeling it. I was determined to stop being such a… such a… an Aphrodite camper. I shuddered at the thought. No, I determined. I would reign in my feelings for Theo. Besides, I didn't even _know_ him. Of course, that could be changed. And if I still liked him after I got to know him better, then I would revisit these feelings. Until then, I would push them aside. That's what I told myself anyway, but my emotions didn't seem to want to play along.

* * *

At dinner we all gathered in the pavilion where Mr. D gave a short and bored speech welcoming us all back for the summer. Then, nymphs brought in food. It all looked delicious, but before I ate, I followed Katherine and Mike to the brazier in the middle of the dining area and scraped off a portion of my meal. "Thank you Poseidon. Thank you Athena." Then I sat back down at the Poseidon table and dug in. I laughed alongside Katherine and Mike. Even though they were technically my aunt and uncle, they felt like extra siblings.

After dinner, we followed the rest of camp to the amphitheater where we had the first campfire of the season. The Apollo cabin brought out instruments: guitars, lyres, even ukuleles, and led the whole camp in sing-a-longs. I already knew a couple of the songs from my parents, and I bellowed them at the top of my lungs alongside my cabin-mates.

That night I went to bed extremely tired and extremely happy, all the weird things that had happened to me recently the farthest thing from my mind. I fell asleep immediately.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! See you all next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: I Let Loose

**AN: Hello once again! I'm glad that I'm getting to upload today. My internet was down earlier, and I was afraid I wouldn't get to post today. But it's back up now, so here I am with Chapter 5! As always, thank you to all my readers, but especially those of you who've reviewed. You guys rock!**

 **So without further ado, here's the next chapter. DFTBA!**

Chapter 5: I Let Loose

My first week at Camp was probably the most amazing week of my life. Everything was even cooler than my parents had said. On Monday, right after breakfast, we had formation drills with the Athena cabin. The head counselor of Athena was named Elesa Oswald. The first time she spoke to me, I realized that she was the British girl I'd seen leading the phalanx drills when I'd first arrived. She wore full armor, except for a helmet, which was tucked under her free arm. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun. Her features were sharp, especially her high cheek bones.

She fixed me with her intense grey eyes, calculating me. I recognized the stare, and gave it right back. Elesa raised an eyebrow. "So," she said, "you're Elizabeth Jackson."

"Yep," I responded.

Elesa considered me for a moment longer, unsure what to make of me. Then she pulled on her helmet and began instructing the group's formation drills.

We also had Ancient Greek lessons, which were challenging for me. Unlike demigods, who had a natural sense for the language, I did not. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the challenge. Mike and Katherine skipped the lesson, off to get in some extra sword play time. The Ancient Greek instructor was a guy called Peter, the head counselor of the Hermes cabin. He was slightly pudgy, but not overly so, with reddish-brownish hair and the trouble maker smirk I'd already learned to associate with Hermes campers.

There was also rock climbing, which consisted of two facing walls that spewed lava, shook, and occasionally slammed into each other. The instructor of the course, a Satyr named Chuck Hedge, made it to the top in about three seconds flat, then yelled at us from the top. "Come on, cupcakes! You're slower than my old daddy goat!"

My hand slipped on a stone about halfway up, but Katherine's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. "Easy there," she said.

I grunted my thanks. "Chuck's a little… intense."

"He gets it from his father," Mike grunted from above us. "Now come on, we've only got five minutes until the walls slam together."

We had wrestling with the Ares cabin. All the Ares kids were about three hundred pounds of pure muscle, so it didn't go all that well for me. We had sword fighting with the Apollo cabin, which was the highlight of my day whenever we had it. That first day, I immediately latched onto Theo as a sparring partner.

"Oh, hey, Elizabeth," he said. "Er… that is your name, right?"

"Yeah," I said. Hopefully I'd impress myself onto his memory a bit better. "Do you have a sparring partner?"

He shook his head. "Naw, the person I usually spar with left at the end of last summer. You offering?"

I nodded enthusiastically. In truth, I probably should have picked someone slightly better, because Theo wasn't as good with a sword as he was with a bow and arrow, but that was okay. The part of me that was enthralled with him didn't care. The part of me that was logical was cursing the other part out.

During archery lessons, we were with the Aphrodite cabin. After the first one, I found out that I was a complete failure at archery. So were Mike and Katherine. "For four years I've been asking him to stop signing us up for archery," Katherine told me one day as we sat by the canoe lake. "Neither of us has improved the slightest since I got here. Mike keeps insisting that we'll get better eventually. And every year we end up having archery with the Aphrodite cabin."

I nodded. This was unsurprising. Mike was basically inseparable from Violet Lee Brooke, his girlfriend and the head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin. It just so happened that she was surprisingly good at archery, thus we went to archery. Violet was, perhaps, the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, except, maybe, for Aunt Piper. Violet's hair was long, full, and dark. Her skin lacked any vestige of mark or blemish. Her bright blue eyes were eye grabbing, her lips full, her voice pleasant. Her figure was the kind of perfect hourglass you only saw on super models and Disney princesses. You'd think that someone _that_ beautiful would be unpleasant and full of themselves, but Violet was actually very down-to-earth. She was the type of person that you wanted to hate because they were _so_ _perfect_ , but you could never bring yourself to because they were just too darn likeable. So even though it was sometimes annoying how often Mike dashed off to hang out with her, I couldn't help but feel happy for them.

Rumor had it that a couple of years ago, Alex de Marco had asked out Violet and been rejected. Two weeks later, Violet and Mike officially started dating. This was apparently the reason for the enmity between the son of Poseidon and the son of Zeus. Of course, whether or not that rumor was true didn't really matter, because Alex was plenty obnoxious enough to merit dislike for no other reason.

Gus had fallen in with the rest of the Zeus cabin, six of the most obnoxious kids I'd ever met, and Alex was the most unpleasant and most obnoxious of the lot of them. Unfortunately, it was rubbing off on Gus, who didn't need help in the obnoxious department. He went from annoying to downright unpleasant under their influence. I actively tried to avoid the Zeus cabin. Occasionally I would catch Gus looking at me strangely from across the dining pavilion, but he looked away quickly every time I noticed him.

Early on in the week, I went up to Fort Stoll alone. Mike was hanging out with Violet, and Katherine was helping Chiron with something. I decided that instead of hanging out along in the Poseidon cabin, I would go up to Fort Stoll and see if there was anyone up there to hang out with. It took me a little while to find the place, but I remembered most of the markers from when Katherine had shown me the place and eventually made my way into the rickety old building.

"Oh, hey, Elizabeth." It was Theo. He had a big bowl of popcorn in his lap. He was sitting on one of the couches with Jocelyn. Jocelyn was holding a controller and focusing intently on the giant television screen mounted on the wall. On the screen was a low-graphics kid swinging around a sword that was shaped like a key and killing monsters that were made out of shadows.

"What game is this?" I asked. "And how _old_ is it?"

"Kingdom Hearts," Jocelyn answered. "This is the HD remaster from 2013."

I snorted. "No way _that's_ HD."

Theo shrugged. "For the time, it was pretty good. Anyway, once you get past the graphics, it's actually got a pretty interesting story. You wanna watch it? Jocelyn is still near the beginning of the game."

I shrugged. I didn't have anything else to do. Plus, it gave me an excuse to hang out with Theo. An hour later, I left with both of them, deep in discussion about the game. I kinda wanted to play it myself, but watching Jocelyn play it was pretty fun, too. Theo wasn't wrong: it did have an interesting story. After that, I started hanging out with them whenever I could, either to watch Jocelyn play the game, or just to do something else entirely. I realized that we were starting to become friends.

During all of this I spared very little thought to the things I'd overheard my parents talking about, or the dream I had, or the sudden appearance of my powers. In fact, I spent those things no thought at all except for the few minutes before I fell asleep each night, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it. I didn't have enough information to work with. That annoyed me, but I didn't have time enough to dwell on it during the day.

* * *

Meanwhile, during all of this, negotiations were going on in the background which would shape the biggest event of the first full week of the summer session: capture the flag. The two teams were being led by the Zeus and Athena cabins. Mike was good on his word, and almost immediately declared our cabin for the Athena side.

"I don't particularly like Elesa," Mike said. "Way too serious, can't take a joke. But I'll align with her over de Marco every day of the week."

"Plus, Violet aligned the Aphrodite cabin with Athena," Katherine said snidely.

Anticipation for the game built over the course of the week, and by Friday evening it had reached a fever pitch. At dinner that night it was all anyone talked about, and by the time the plates were cleared away what had been a dull roar had become deafening. Finally, Chiron stamped his foot on the floor of the pavilion. "Heroes!" he shouted, getting all of our attention. "As you know, tonight is our first capture the flag game of the season!" We all erupted into cheers. Capture the flag was immensely popular, and I understood why. I was excited, too.

Chiron continued, "The Zeus cabin currently holds the laurels." Alex de Marco came running into the pavilion with a giant purple flag with a yellow bolt of lightning ripping across it. About half the camp applauded: those cabins that had allied with Zeus for this match. "The other team is headed by the Athena cabin." Elesa ran into the pavilion with a silver flag decorated by an owl. The other half of camp cheered. Chiron then proceeded to list which cabins had allied with each team, which took a while because there were about fifty cabins with campers, some of them only one, but they still had campers. Finally, Chiron said, "You all know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. No maiming is allowed. Now, heroes, to arms!" He raised up his hands, and armor and weapons appeared on the tables.

"Grab one of the light suits of armor," Mike whispered to me. I did as he instructed and pulled out a set of black leather armor rather than the usual bronze armor. I picked up one of the red plumed helmets that designated me as part of the Athena team. As I was adjusting the straps on my armor, Theo ran up to me, his bow slung over his shoulder, a sword strapped to his waist in case he got into close quarters combat. His helmet was red plumed like mine.

"Alright, same team!" he said to me and we high fived. My heart fluttered ever so slightly, but I forced myself to keep it in check. _We're just friends_ , I said to myself. _Nothing more_.

"Good, that means I get to kick both your butts," Jocelyn said, striding towards us in a blue plumed helmet. Instead of the usual revolver holster on her waist, she had a sword strapped there. She adjusted the belt uncomfortably.

"No revolver?" I asked. "You never part company with that thing."

Jocelyn scowled. "Guns are banned from capture the flag. Too dangerous, Chiron said."

I laughed. "Then you're definitely not going to kick our butts."

"That sounds like a challenge, Jackson," Jocelyn teased. "I hope we meet out there so I can prove your smug face wrong. Where's your sword, anyway?"

I held up my knife. "For this, I'd prefer to use my own weapon. Besides, I don't need the extra reach to beat you."

"Three drachma says you're wrong," Jocelyn replied.

"Oh, you are so on," I said. We shook hands.

From across the pavilion I heard Alex's pompous voice call out, "Blue team, let's go!"

"See you out there, Jackson," Jocelyn said, slowly backing away, then eventually running to catch up with the rest of her team.

"Looking forward to it?" Theo asked as I helped him adjust the straps on his armor.

I could almost feel the glint in my eyes as I said, "Yeah. This is going to be awesome!"

Just then, Elesa's unmistakable voice reverberated throughout the pavilion, "Red team, move out!"

We ran off, following the rest of the team into the woods. I fell back from Theo, promising to see him out there, and ran alongside Mike and Katherine instead. Both of them were wearing the lighter leather armor as well. "So what're we doing? What's our job?"

"Those questions have different answers," Mike said quietly. He smiled conspiratorially at me. "See, Elesa wants us to patrol our part of the woods to keep the other team from getting the flag. Seems reasonable, but she's really doing it because she doesn't want the Poseidon cabin to get the flag. She wants to make sure that Athena keeps hold of it. She's putting us safely out of the way so that she can get it. But we're not going to do that."

"What are we going to do, then?" I asked.

"We're going to take the flag," Katherine said. "We're a pretty small group, the three of us. If we move fast, we can get around the enemy's flank and make it to their flag before either of the two main attacks manages to get to the flag."

"And you know where the flag is being held?"

Mike smiled broadly again. "Violet _may_ have charmspoken the information out of one of the Hermes campers and made him promise not to tell."

"That's cheating," I protested.

Katherine shrugged. "We found out that your old friend Augustus used his own charmspeaking skills to get the same information from someone on our team." Of course he did. Gods, it was so obnoxious that that moron could charmspeak people.

"So what do you think?" Mike said. "If you don't like the plan, then you can do what Elesa wants us to do and guard our team's territory."

I snorted. "No way. I'm in."

Katherine and Mike cheered at that. We split away from the rest of the team and hid behind some trees near the creek, waiting for the game to begin. We probably only stood there for about two minutes, but it felt like an hour I was so excited. Finally, Chiron blew the conch, and the game began.

We sprinted across the creek, tearing through the underbrush at breakneck pace. If anyone on the blue team did see, they lost us just as quickly. Besides, they were all distracted by the rest of the red team, who'd launched their two prong assault on blue team territory. We were a blur as we ran. Even with the leather armor, the extra weight still made running so fast tiring. I was just about to ask if we could stop for breath when we broke into a clearing in the shape of a perfect triangle. I knew the spot from monster hunting classes. It was called the Great Delta Clearing, which was uncreative naming if I'd ever heard it.

In the center of the clearing the flag was tied to a pole that had been driven into the ground. There were six guards. They'd been distracted by the sound of the fighting that was moving ever closer, so they were surprised when we burst into the clearing.

"Brace!" Mike yelled, and stomped his foot on the ground. A tremor shook the ground, and the surprised guards fell to their butts. However, there were still six of them. We dashed towards the center of the clearing, but unfortunately, the guards recovered miraculously quickly. Mike cursed and drew his sword, as did Katherine, but I kept running for the flag. Maybe if the guards kept their attention on those two, I could get the flag…

A sword came out of nowhere right in front of my face. I fell to my knees and slid along the ground, the sword passing clean over my head. I was up on my feet just as quickly as I'd dropped, and spun around, brandishing my knife at my assailant. It was Jocelyn. In my haste to get to the flag, I hadn't realized that she'd been one of the guards.

"Time to put your money where your mouth is," she said, her southern accent coming to the surface, and lunged at me. I caught the strike with the hilt of my knife. Jocelyn kept on coming. I could tell that she didn't feel comfortable with the sword in her hands, and she kept over-extending herself. Her unfamiliarity with the blade was her undoing. I stepped inside her strike and grabbed her right wrist with my free hand. I spun around, twisting her arm as I did so.

"You'll want to take some Tylenol later," I said, then threw my elbow back into her helmet. It hurt, but the action had the intended effect. Jocelyn stumbled backwards, dazed, then fell down. When she tried to get up, she fell back down. "Looks like you owe me three drachma," I teased, then ran to the flag unimpeded. Mike and Katherine were still grappling with the remaining five guards. For a moment I was awed by their fighting prowess. Two of them against five, and they were holding their ground pretty well. Of course, the localized mini-earthquakes probably helped. I caught Mike's eye, and he gave me a small nod from across the clearing. The message was clear. _Take the flag_.

I grabbed the flag just as one of the red team advances broke into the clearing, George, the head counselor of the Apollo cabin, at the lead. When he saw me with the flag he looked completely flabbergasted. I sprinted off, back towards the creek. George regained his composure as I ran past him. "Cover her!" he shouted. "Cover Elizabeth! Make sure she gets back across that creek!"

"Way to go Elizabeth!" I heard Theo call after me.

This time as I dashed through the woods, a lot more attention was on me. Members of the blue team tried to block me, but every time one appeared in my path the Apollo campers that were running behind and alongside me pelted them with their blunt arrows and cleared me a path. _I'm going to make it!_ I thought excitedly. _I'm going to capture the flag!_

I broke through the tree line near the creek at the exact same time that Augustus broke through the tree line on the other side. He held our team's flag. No way was I going to let him win. I poured on an extra burst of speed, and so did he. Everyone had converged on the creek. Red plumed and blue plumed helmets screamed along the banks of the creek, cheering us on.

Gus and I crossed the creek at the exact same time. Both flags turned solid white. Chiron blew the conch. The other campers went silent. He cantered towards us, a look of utter disbelief on his face. "This is incredible," he said. "For the first time in the history of Camp Half-Blood, it appears that we have a perfect tie."

Everyone started chattering. It was unbelievable, and everyone seemed to be excited to witness the first ever tie. Finally, Elesa's voice called out over the noise, "So how do we break the tie?"

Chiron paused to consider. "Well… I suppose that the two flag carriers would have to duel. Whoever won, would win the game for their team."

Gus smirked. He'd pulled off his helmet now, and his brown hair stuck up at funny angles. "Well we might as well skip that. We all know who would win that fight." He turned toward me, a cocky grin plastered on his face. "Why don't you just surrender now, that way you don't have to get embarrassed in front of everyone else." The other goons from the Zeus cabin laughed. I almost did surrender. He was right, wasn't he?

"Hang on," I said. "You were charmspeaking me!" I got really angry then. "How dare you charmspeak me!?" I yelled. "You are such a pompous asshole! You think you're better than everyone, but you know what? You're not! You know what you are? You're _mediocre_ , Grace!" I lunged at him with my knife. I was angry and reckless. Gus knocked my blade aside, then summoned a gust of wind to knock me over. I fell back into the creek, water soaking into my shorts.

The Zeus campers laughed. The other campers were muttering. Gus, however, was doing neither. His face was twisted up, but it wasn't anger I saw in his face. It was hurt and regret. I didn't feel sorry. In fact, I just got angrier. I got to my feet, and all my pent up anger and frustration at Gus over the last few years released at once. "Argh!"

Something else released along with my anger. My stomach wrenched painfully, and suddenly the entire creek rose up and attacked Gus. The deluge of water slammed into him and blasted him against one of the trees with such force that it blasted the bark off the tree trunk. Hundreds, maybe thousands of gallons of water continued to slam into him, washing over him. He tried to break free but he couldn't. The look on his face turned to terror, and I realized that he couldn't breathe.

The pain in my stomach was completely agonizing now, and it was only getting worse. It felt like my insides were being put through a blender. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt.

"Elizabeth!" Chiron shouted. "That's enough! Stop!"

"I can't!" I cried out. I was just as terrified as Augustus looked, being slowly drowned. I felt streaks of water on my face and realized I was crying. I also realized I was on my knees now, something that I didn't remember doing. I wrapped my hands around my stomach which felt like was going to burst apart. My head felt like it was being split open by an axe. I felt hot and feverish, and a shiver started all over my body.

The other campers had recovered from their shock. They were trying to pull Augustus out of the barrage of water, but they were not having any luck doing so. A lot of campers had started screaming now. Chiron was right next to me, but there wasn't anything he could do to help me stop. I was trying with all my might to shut off my powers, but I couldn't. Somehow I knew that if I didn't stop soon, not only would Augustus die, but I would as well.

All of a sudden, Mike's face appeared in front of me. "Sorry about this!" he yelled. He raised his hand, and I noticed there was a rock in it. He swung the rock down at my head. And then blackness.

* * *

 **AN: And that's it this time. I'll probably post the next chapter Friday evening, so look out for it. See you then :)**


	6. Chapter 6: I Practice Public Speaking

**AN: Happy Friday everyone! Hope you're all doing fabulously! I would, as always, like to thank all of you for reading, and especially those of you who've reviewed, followed, or favorited. I know I say that every chapter, but I truly do mean it. I'm happy that there are people that enjoy the story idea I've been developing for almost a year now. It is truly gratifying :)**

 **Okay, enough of that. On with the story! DFTBA!**

Chapter 6: I Practice Public Speaking

When I finally came to, I had no clue what was going on. The room I was in swam and my head felt fuzzy, as if it had been stuffed full of cotton. My mouth felt like I'd swallowed the Sahara Desert. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to remember what had happened. I saw a massive deluge of water slamming into Augustus, heard myself crying out, and then Mike's voice yelling, "Sorry about this!" I opened my eyes and sat bolt upright. The action made me dizzy.

"Whoa, there," said a voice I recognized. "Take it easy, you've been out for two days."

My vision cleared. I was in the infirmary at the Big House. Katherine sat in a chair to my right, and Mike was leaning against the wall next to the window. Sunlight streamed into the room.

"Is Augustus okay?" I asked, urgently. Gus was annoying, sure, but I'd never meant to cause him any serious harm, and I definitely didn't want him to be dead.

"He's fine," Katherine reassured me. "Took him a few minutes to catch his breath after you were… rendered unconscious, but he's perfectly alright."

I relaxed a bit. "Good."

"So how do you feel?" Mike asked, anxiously.

"I have a bit of a headache, and I'm _really_ thirsty, but otherwise I feel fine," I said.

Mike let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I was worried. Besides for… you know, your powers getting out of hand, there was also what happened to knock you out."

"Yeah, how did that happen?" I asked. "Not that I'm complaining, it was probably the only way to stop me."

Mike rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. "Mike hit you over the head with a rock," Katherine explained.

"Sorry," Mike muttered.

I shook my head. "Don't be. You probably saved my life and Gus's." We were all silent for a little while. I glanced around, and my eyes fell on the besides table, where three golden drachmas were stacked. "What're those?" I asked, indicating the coins.

"Jocelyn dropped them off for you," Katherine said. "She mentioned something about a bet?"

I chuckled weakly and reached for the coins.

Mike spoke up again. "Listen, I spoke to Chiron. You and Katherine will not be taking archery lessons anymore. You're going to use that time slot for something else."

"What?" I asked.

"Chiron and I agreed that teaching you how to shoot an arrow straight isn't top priority right now," Mike elaborated. "We decided that you needed to learn how to control your powers, and Katherine is the best person to teach you. The only person, really."

I blinked, and realized my mouth was hanging open very slightly. I closed it, and turned to look at Katherine. She smiled at me. "You better be ready, because we start tomorrow."

* * *

So, instead of going to archery, Katherine took me back to the Poseidon cabin and instructed me to put on my swim suit underneath my Camp t-shirt and my shorts. After doing so, she led me into the woods, following the creek.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," Katherine called back over her shoulder. We were splashing through water that came up to our mid-calves. We were deeper into the woods than I'd yet been in my week at Camp. The banks on either side of the creek got taller as we followed it upstream. "I discovered the place I'm taking you my first year," she continued. "As far as I know, I'm the only camper who's ever discovered this spot. Sometimes when I've got a lot to think about I like to come up here."

"That didn't exactly answer my question," I replied.

Katherine laughed. "No, it didn't. But patience is a virtue. Besides, we'll be there before too much longer."

Patience may have been a virtue, but it was never my forte. We continued splashing up the creek. Several times I tripped on rocks and fell into the water. Before long I was soaked, and my heavy shirt weighed me down. Annoyed, I pulled it off, exposing my blue bikini top.

"So you really think you can teach me to use my powers?" I called ahead.

"I don't know," Katherine answered. A shaft of light broke through the trees and reflected off her blonde hair, temporarily blinding me. Apparently, she thought my grunt was about her response. "I've never taught anyone before," she continued, somewhat defensively. "But I was thinking about it, and I feel like I have an idea where we should start."

We were really deep in the woods now. I had a sneaking suspicion that few, if any, campers came back here except Katherine. The banks on either side had gotten so high we were practically in a ravine. "It's just…" I said, trying to put what I'd been feeling the past week or so to words. "I've always dreamt of having awesome water powers. Like my dad or my brother Matt. I was so excited when I first used them, but… what if I can never learn to control them? What if it only comes out when I get angry or scared?"

Katherine stopped and turned around to face me. "You _can_ control it," she said firmly. She stepped back towards me and placed a hand on each of my shoulders. Her eyes were very serious and full of caring. I'd only known her for a week, but we were already close. Even though she was technically my aunt, and only a year older than me, she felt like the older sister I'd always kind of wanted.

"How can you know?" I asked quietly. "You just said you _didn't_ know if you could teach me."

"That's different than never learning to control your powers," Katherine said. "Even if I can't teach you, I have no doubt that you can do it. You are more powerful than you give yourself credit for. That raw release the other night? Sure, it was terrifying. Sure, you almost killed yourself and another camper. But there's no denying that it was impressive. Imagine what you could do if you could control your powers." I wasn't so sure about all that. I knew that I'd never attain the same level of power as her or my dad, or even my brother Matt. Katherine seemed to read my mind. "I'm not sure how powerful you'll be, obviously. There's no telling that until we try and push your limits. Now, come on, we're almost there."

She continued walking and I followed. Now we really were in a ravine, the hills on either side becoming cliffs of loose dirt. Trees barely managed to cling on, casting deep shadows all around us. The water was starting to get deeper too. It was up to my knees now.

And then, suddenly, we were bathed in sunlight. The creek widened out on either side, creating a circular pool of about ten feet in diameter. The pool forced the trees apart and let the sunlight down. The water sparkled brilliantly. Directly opposite us was a waterfall. It wasn't a huge one, only about six feet tall, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

"This is it," Katherine said. She climbed up on a rock at the edge of the watering hole. "The water here is pretty deep," she explained, "especially directly under the waterfall."

I joined her on the flat rock and laid my orange t-shirt out to dry. I also pulled off my jean shorts, which had been soaked as well. "Wouldn't salt water be easier to work with?" I asked.

"For complicated stuff, definitely," Katherine said. "But what I'm going to try to teach you today should work equally well in both fresh and salt water, especially if the river spirit is feeling nice."

"Is this one feeling nice?"

Katherine shrugged. "She has her moments. But mostly, yeah. She and I get along."

Most people would find a comment like that weird, but then most people didn't live in a world of gods and monsters. "So what are we starting with then?" I asked.

Katherine was silent for a full minute. When she finally did speak, it was slowly and deliberately. "I wasn't entirely sure where to start at first. I mean, my powers mostly came naturally, so I never had to think about how I did it. But I figured that some things had to be easier to do than others, you know?"

"Makes sense."

"Right, so I got thinking. What is the easiest thing for me to do? Well obviously something that I don't have to think about. Something that was as involuntary as my heartbeat or say… breathing."

I blinked. "Breathing? As in… breathing underwater?"

Katherine smiled. "You're quick on the uptake."

I grinned. This was actually rather exciting for me. Sure, it wasn't the showiest power out there, but it was important. And better yet, I felt like she was right. This would be the best way to start. It would probably open the doors to lots of other powers. "So how do we do that?"

"Well, as I've said, I've never tried to teach anyone to use these powers before," she said. "But I have an idea. Hopefully it works. First, you gotta get in the water."

I did and waded in until the water was up to my chest, where Katherine told me to stop. I turned to face her. She had her cell phone out. "I've got this on stopwatch mode," she explained. "Here's what you're going to do. You'll go completely under and stay under for as long as you can."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go on."

I shrugged, took a deep breath, and ducked my head under, confident. But before long I came back up gasping for air.

"One minute," Katherine informed me. "Average breath holding time. Try again."

"No tips or anything?"

"Nope. Just try again."

And so I did. Again and again and again, but I never got much more than a minute and a half. One time I managed a full two and a half minutes, but I was so out of breath after that one that I was only able to stay under for thirty seconds the next time. I was getting more frustrated with each passing try, but Katherine just kept calmly chanting, "Again," every time I came up.

Finally, I decided I'd had enough. After my head broke the surface, I immediately started talking, not even realizing that I hadn't gasped for air. "I can't do it! I just… I can't."

"Elizabeth –"

"I know what you'll say. You'll say I'll get it, I just have to practice more, but I won't. I'm just not cut out for this. I give up."

"That's not what I was going to say," Katherine said, and I realized for the first time how proud she looked. "And you definitely shouldn't give up. You were just under for fifteen minutes."

* * *

After my breakthrough, I improved dramatically. By Tuesday I had fully mastered breathing underwater and started on some harder stuff. I had a complete block when it came to keeping myself dry, so we skipped that and started on some of the more dramatic abilities. Unfortunately, the drawbacks from using my powers were ever present. Just breathing underwater gave me a slight headache, but the more involved ways of using my powers had more intense repercussions. I often came back from practice tired, nauseous, and with a splitting headache. I started taking aspirin and tums like nobody's business. Nevertheless, I was very pleased with the progress I was making. Oh who am I kidding? I was ecstatic with my progress. I was proving myself a true granddaughter of Poseidon.

On Thursday, though, something happened which ruined my good mood. Katherine and I were on our way back from practicing. We'd just exited the woods and found a fight going on in the central green. One of the Demeter kids was having a shouting match with one of the two Hades kids.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Katherine shook her head. "No idea."

Then, the two campers drew their swords. Katherine and I looked at each other, alarmed, and sprinted off down the hill towards them. Mike was sprinting at them from the other direction, and he got there first. I felt the ground shake, and I stumbled. Mike had set off a tremor. I saw campers throughout the central green stumble, but the two fighting campers fell on their butts. The Demeter camper was on his feet first. He glared murderously at the Hades camper, then stalked off.

When Katherine and I finally made it over, the Hades camper was just getting to his feet. He was lanky with long legs and arms. He had long hair that was almost white and skin so pale he almost looked dead. His icy blue eyes were full of anger.

"What in Zeus's name was that, Dan?" Mike shouted.

Dan glowered at him. He wasn't all that physically intimidating, but I could feel this kid's power. You didn't want to mess with him. "It's none of your business," he said quietly. Then he turned and stalked away.

"What was that about?" I asked.

Mike shook his head, mystified. "I have no idea," he said quietly. He looked worried.

* * *

Later on I brought the incident up to Theo and Jocelyn while we were at Fort Stoll watching Jocelyn play Kingdom Hearts.

"Oh yeah," Theo said. "I saw that. No clue what it was about, though."

Jocelyn however, remained silent. It wasn't the I'm-so-focused-on-my-game-I-can't-respond silence, either. It was the I-know-something-I'm-not-supposed-to silence. I could tell by the look on her face. "What?" I asked. "You know something, don't you?"

Theo looked over at Jocelyn. "You holding out on us, Joce?"

"I really shouldn't say," she said. I could tell she was agitated, because her southern accent was coming in strong. But she glanced around anyway. We were alone. She paused the game. "You can't go blabbing about this to everyone, alright? We think that this is supposed to be secret."

"We?"

"The Hermes cabin," Jocelyn clarified. Even though we were alone, she lowered her voice. "A couple weeks ago we started noticing some odd things. Day before you got to Camp actually." I felt a jolt go up my spine. The day before I got to Camp? The same day I'd gotten my powers, the same day I had that disturbing dream, the same day I'd eavesdropped on my parents. I had spared those things precious little thought since I'd gotten to Camp Half-Blood. I had a feeling that whatever was coming was related, somehow, to all of that. "See, Hermes kids are really good at finding out information," Jocelyn continued. "Especially information we're not supposed to know. Comes with the territory of being the kids of the messenger god."

"So what did you find out?" I asked.

"Persephone is missing," Jocelyn said grimly.

 _How did anyone steal a goddess?_ my mom had asked. It looked like I knew which goddess she was referring to now.

"Hades's wife?" Theo asked.

"And Demeter's daughter," Jocelyn confirmed. "See the issue now?"

I nodded. It made sense now why the Demeter camper and Hades camper were fighting with each other earlier.

"Well I still don't get it," Theo said.

"Demeter and Hades loathe each other," Jocelyn explained. "They've hated each other for millennia. Remember, Hades originally kidnapped Persephone."

I remembered the story. Hades had wanted to marry the goddess and Zeus had given him permission to do so (Persephone was his daughter). Hades took Persephone to the Underworld. Demeter didn't know where her daughter had gone, but when she found out Hades had taken her, she tried to get the other gods to do something about it. They refused to help. She responded by plunging the world into a perpetual drought that would only end when Hades returned her daughter to her. Finally, Zeus gave in, and order Hades to return Persephone. Hades had threatened to unleash the dead back into the world, but even he couldn't deny a direct order from Zeus. Right when he was about to give up his true love, she ate an Underworld pomegranate, and thus she had to stay. This made matters worse between Hades and Demeter, but crisis was averted with a compromise. Persephone would split her time between Hades and Demeter. Her alternating visits created the seasons.

"Okay…" Theo said slowly. He still didn't get it.

"Think about it, Theo," I said. "It's summer time, which means that Persephone is supposed to be with Demeter right now. If she's missing…"

"Then Demeter is going to think that Hades is trying to keep her," Jocelyn finished.

"Demeter thinks Hades kidnapped Persephone again?" Theo asked.

"Exactly," Jocelyn said. "She thinks he's unsatisfied with the amount of time that he gets with Persephone, and is trying to hold her year-round."

"Did he do it?" Theo asked.

I considered this. "I would doubt it," I said. "He might be unhappy with the arrangement, but I don't think he'd want to jeopardize the time that he does get to spend with his wife. If he kidnapped her, he'd be putting himself and his marriage at risk."

"Which is in line with what we've been able to find out," Jocelyn said. "Hades completely denies it, and he's very offended. See, he and the other Olympians aren't always on the best of terms. I mean, it's only been twenty-five years since he got a full time seat on the Olympian council, thanks to your dad." Jocelyn nodded at me. "Used to be he could only go to Olympus for the winter council on December 21st. He feels that this is just another example of Demeter trying to make him look bad. Hades is demanding that the accusation be withdrawn and that Demeter apologize."

"So that's why the Hades and Demeter kids looked ready to kill each other," I mused. "Hades and Demeter must've told their kids."

Jocelyn nodded. "That or they found out on their own, because no one in the Hermes cabin would've told anyone from either cabin. We might stick our noses where they aren't supposed to be, but we know better than to start a fight."

"What about the other gods?" Theo asked.

Jocelyn snorted. "Same as last time. Staying out of it. They know better than to get involved in this fight. At least, not yet. That's not the main concern. The main concern is the deadline. Demeter is demanding that Hades release Persephone and Hades is demanding an apology on the same day."

"When?" I asked, but I felt like I already knew the answer. This whole situation was surprisingly like one of the first stories my dad had told me about his adventures: the time that Zeus's Masterbolt was stolen.

"The summer solstice," Jocelyn answered, confirming my suspicion. The summer solstice as, what? Nine days away? Not a whole lot of time.

"What about Persephone?" Theo asked. "Why doesn't she just tell everyone where she is?"

Jocelyn shook her head. "Whoever kidnapped her is doing a very good job of hiding her, and keeping her quiet. That worries me. Kidnapping a goddess shouldn't even be possible, much less hiding her from the other gods and preventing her from calling out to them. Whoever the culprit is must be powerful and dangerous."

"So why hasn't then Hermes cabin told the rest of Camp?" I asked irritably. "Maybe we could do something about it."

Jocelyn shook her head. "That would only make matters worse."

I disagreed. The truth was important. Knowledge was important. No one could do anything while a secret this big was being kept.

"Is anyone doing anything about this?" Theo asked.

"Artemis and Apollo are looking for Persephone, but reluctantly," Jocelyn said, shrugging. "Remember, the other gods want to stay out of this if it's at all possible. And we don't know of anyone else looking for her."

"My parents are doing something," I said. "I overheard them talking about it the night before they brought me to Camp. And they talked to Chiron and Grover when they got here. I think Chiron asked the Seven to try and find Persephone. But it's been almost two weeks since they dropped me…"

"And if they were going to find Persephone, they would've by now," Jocelyn added gravely.

"So what can we do?" Theo asked. I had an idea about that…

* * *

The campfire that night, was, as usual, noisy, but two cabins were not participating. The two campers from Hades and the fifteen Demeter campers were staring daggers at each other from across the amphitheater. If it came down to a fight, I honestly didn't know which cabin would win. The Demeter campers might've outnumbered the Hades campers, but the two Hades kids were incredibly powerful. Of course, if I had it my way, it wouldn't come to a fight at all.

Near the end of the sing a long, I stood up. Katherine and Mike looked at me, curious, but I held up a hand to forestall their questions. Then, steeling myself, I walked down the steps to the front of the amphitheater. As I walked past people, they shot me strange looks and started muttering to each other.

When I got down to the bottom, George, who was leading the sing a long, faltered and stopped. The last chord on his guitar rang through the amphitheater. It was a minor chord. "Elizabeth?" Chiron asked. He skittered nervously on his hooves. "What are you doing?"

Facing the entire Camp was nerve racking. Two hundred pairs of eyes were focused on me in complete silence. I was just thankful that Mr. D had already retired for the evening. I didn't know that I could handle any snide remarks he might throw my way. I cleared my throat nervously. "Hi guys," I began lamely. I took a deep breath. "Hello Camp Half-Blood," I tried again, this time louder. "Some of you may have noticed that something weird has been going on recently. I think that everyone has a right to know what's going on." Chiron looked at me in alarm.

"Elizabeth –" he started to say, but it was too late. I plowed on.

"Persephone has gone missing."

Chaos broke out. Campers started talking to each other. The Hades and Demeter cabins both leaped to their feet, weapons drawn, and started screaming at each other. The campfire, which reflected the mood of the campers, shot up to twenty feet and blazed in a million different colors. Chiron stamped his hoof and called for calm, but he couldn't make himself heard. Apparently, I'd miscalculated.

Suddenly the ground shook violently. Campers fell over, one or two even screamed. Mike's voice cut through the chaos. "SHUT UP!" he yelled. They shut up. "Elizabeth, you have the floor again," he said normally, then sat back down like it was nothing. Once again, the Camp stared at me silently.

"Thanks, Mike," I finally said after a pause. I couldn't afford to lose control of the amphitheater like that again. "As I was saying, Persephone has been kidnapped. Demeter blames Hades, and Hades is offended by the accusation. They're both threatening war, and if Persephone isn't returned safely by the summer solstice there will be a war."

"It's just like the other gods to blame Hades for something he didn't do," one of the Hades campers said spitefully, standing up. It was the older of the two. He looked a lot different from Dan. His hair was black and spiked, with long bangs that covered the left side of his face. He wore black jeans and a black leather jacket. He had a lip piercing, which was actually sort of cool in a punk kind of way, though no way I'd ever get one for myself. I was pretty sure his name was Xavier.

"Oh please," the head counselor of the Demeter cabin said, standing up as well. She was a slim Mexican American girl. Her long brown hair was braided with dried grass. Her eyes were amber waves of grain golden. She wore a simple summer dress. I think her name was Rosa. "Hades has done plenty of bad things. The other gods have reason to distrust him. Besides, he's kidnapped Persephone before. It would be just like him to do it again. He should just fess up."

Another yelling match was about to start. I could feel it coming. "It doesn't matter," I said loudly, stopped the fight before it could start. Xavier and Rosa sat back down slowly. "The point is that someone has to find Persephone and bring her back, along with the truth, whatever it may be. That's why I'm telling you all what I know. Some people here already knew the truth, but they kept it to themselves to try and prevent panic. I disagree. I think that everyone needs to know what is going on so that we can send out a quest. A quest to find Persephone."

"That would be great," said a British accented voice. My grey eyes locked onto Elesa Oswald's grey eyes. I could see the possibilities and calculations running at breakneck pace through her head. She stood. "But there's one problem with that. Whoever were to go on your proposed quest has nowhere to start, no leads to follow." Her fellow Athena campers muttered agreement. "Unless you're still not telling us something," Elesa added.

I verified that I'd told them everything I knew.

"Well we obviously need a prophecy," George spoke up. "If we can get a prophecy, then it might give us some place to start."

Everyone's eyes turned to Gwendolyn. She shrugged and stood up. "I can't just spout prophecies whenever I want to. The right person needs to ask me the right question in order to trigger a prophecy. And at any rate, there's no guarantee that any prophecy I issue won't make things worse."

I glanced over at Chiron. He old eyes were locked onto me. He was deep in thought. He looked worried. I asked him for help with my eyes, but he shook his head almost imperceptibly. This was my audience. I was still directing the Camp.

The campers had started to argue amongst themselves who should ask the Oracle for a quest. I had a feeling, though, that _I_ was the one who was supposed to speak to her. I was pretty sure that this quest was supposed to be mine. What else would explain all the crazy coincidences that had happened to me lately?

"It's me," I said confidently. "I'm the one who's supposed to lead this quest."

Alex de Marco scoffed. "You? You're only thirteen. Don't get delusions of grandeur just because your parents are famous, Jackson."

"Shut your mouth," someone snapped a few seats away from Alex. He looked stunned. I was even more stunned. The voice that had spoken up in my defense was Augustus Grace. I'd been trying to find him and talk to him since the Capture the Flag incident to apologize, but he'd been avoiding me. I thought he hated me. Yet here he was standing up for me. I mean, literally standing up. "Don't talk about her like that," he said forcefully. He'd pay for back talking his head counselor later, and the look on Augustus's face told me he knew it. But he stood up for me anyway. I was actually touched. "I believe you, Elizabeth," he said. "The quest should be yours."

I cleared my throat. For some reason I had a lump in it. "Thanks, Augustus," I managed. He gave me a small smile and sat back down. Once more, everyone looked at Gwendolyn.

Again, she shrugged. "Only one way to find out," she said. She looked straight at me. Her teal hair looked almost black in the firelight. "Approach, seeker, and ask."

I stepped toward her. "How do I find Persephone?" Nothing. I frowned.

"Try a different question," Gwendolyn said gently. There were some snickers beginning in the audience now. "The spirit of Delphi is a tricky bugger. It has to be the _right_ question."

"Where is Persephone?" I asked. Again, nothing. This time, there was outright laughter. I felt myself flush. I was angry and hurt. I was so sure that I was the one who was supposed to save the goddess. But maybe I'd been fooling myself. I wasn't the one. Besides, even my parents couldn't find her. What hope could I have when even they couldn't do it? And then it came to me. The right question. "Can I save Persephone?"

That one worked. A cold wind swept through the amphitheater. Mist swirled around Gwendolyn. Her eyes glowed green. When she spoke, it was like there were three Gwendolyns. And another voice. A voice like a snake.

" _Granddaughter of two feuding gods_

 _Must placate war 'tween those at odds._

 _The flower goddess, silent, sleeps_

 _In the long forgotten keep_

 _Of gods that are forever gone._

 _But the kidnapping is just a con_

 _For succeed or fail, it matters not;_

 _The Heir to Time will advance his plot."_

* * *

 **And that's all! I'll be back with chapter 7 on Tuesday. See you all next time.**


	7. Chapter 7: My Grandfather Gives Me

**AN: Hi guys! Hope you're doing well. I'm going to continue sounded like a broken record until we get all the way through this story, but thank you so much for all the support that you've been given me. You guys are the best :)**

 **Alright, enough talking. I'll be back with Chapter 8 on Friday. DFTBA!**

Chapter 7: My Grandfather Gives Me a Deadly Weapon

It was a good thing that Gwendolyn was already over a seat, because she collapsed as soon as the prophecy ended. The amphitheater erupted with noise as campers started talking about the prophecy. Everyone was asking questions, and the main one they were asking was the same one that I was: who was the Heir to Time? Gwendolyn had perked back up. She asked a camper nearby a question. The camper recited the prophecy to her, and she pulled out a sharpie to record it on her shirt.

Chiron stamped his hoof on the floor to get everyone's attention. When everyone had settled down, he spoke. "A quest has been issued." He looked at me really sadly, like he'd been hoping not to involve me in this. "As such, Miss Jackson may pick her companions."

"She should take someone from the Demeter cabin," Rosa said. I had no doubt that she meant herself. "That way, we can be there to help expose Hades."

Xavier shot to his feet and drew his sword. "Shut up, Rosa, unless you want a face full of Stygian iron. She should take me or Dan so that we can prove our father's innocence."

"I believe I get to choose," I yelled, cutting across both of them. Xavier and Rosa shut up and sat back down, but they didn't look particularly happy about it. "I'm not taking anyone from either of your cabins," I said. "You're too biased." That was only partially true. Any Demeter camper I took would constantly be pushing for us to go after Hades and would hurt the quest. I honestly didn't think that Hades had done it, so taking a Hades camper wouldn't have been that big a deal to me. But the Demeter cabin would lose their heads, and we couldn't have that. "Besides, I already know who I want to take with me, if they'll agree to go. Jocelyn? Theo? Will you guys come with me?" I almost thought they'd say no, but both of them stood up almost immediately and dashed down the steps to join me in front of everyone. "You guys sure?" I asked. "It'll be dangerous."

"Are you kidding?" Jocelyn asked. "That's exactly why we're going. Someone's gotta stop you from getting yourself killed."

"Yeah," Theo agreed. "Plus, we can't let you have all the fun."

I smiled. "Thanks guys."

"It is decided," Chiron said wearily. "In the morning, you three will leave on your quest. We shall discuss your provisions and where you should start. Everyone else, to bed!" He clapped his hands and the fire went out. A lot of campers expressed their dismay, but the head counselors herded their campers back to the cabins. In the moonlight I saw Rosa and Xavier glare at each other, then stomp away in opposite directions.

Chiron led us silently to the Big House. The porch lights were still on. Jocelyn, Theo and I took seats around the table. Gwendolyn sat down in the last seat, directly across from me. Chiron stood high above us, the look on his face grim. "I had hoped it would not be you," he said quietly.

"I know," I said. "I could tell. But there's no avoiding fate, right?"

Gwendolyn nodded. "Spot on there, Elizabeth."

"Any idea what the prophecy means?" Jocelyn spoke up. "I want to know what this long forgotten keep is. It sounds like where we need to get."

Chiron shook his head gravely. "I do not know what that line means."

"What about that Heir to Time thing?" Theo asked. "That sounds pretty ominous."

I glanced up at Chiron. I could see the gears turning in his head just as fast as the gears in my head were turning. And just like me, he looked frustrated. He honestly didn't know what my prophecy meant. He sighed. "I am getting too old," he muttered. "I do not know where you should start."

"Good thing I do," a new voice said. I jumped a little. I hadn't noticed the girl approaching our group. I'd seen her around Camp before, but we'd never really spoken. She was a few years older than me, with long, dark red hair done in an intricate plait. I couldn't imagine how long she spent on her hair every day. Normally I was content with a simple ponytail or leaving my hair loose, and I never did anything that complex. The girl wore a long brown cloak over her t-shirt and jeans. The cloak wasn't what struck me, though. What struck me were her eyes: they were pale yellow, like the moon sometimes was. They almost bulged out of her face and seemed to glow.

"I don't believe I've introduced myself," the girl said. She spoke with a very defined beat, and her voice rose and fell, almost like she was singing. "My name is Helen Houdini, the head counselor of the Hecate cabin. And before you ask, yes I am distantly related to the famous illusionist."

"Nice to meet you," I said. "You said you had an idea on where we can start?"

"Yes," she said. "But I would rather not discuss it out in the open. Would you please come with me to the Hecate cabin?"

I looked at Chiron and Gwendolyn to gauge whether I should or not. Chiron nodded slowly. "Go with her," he said. "I will see you first thing in the morning. Try to sleep tonight, Elizabeth."

I nodded and stood. Jocelyn and Theo made like they were going to follow me, but I held up my hands. "No guys," I said. I don't know why, but I wanted to go alone for some reason. I couldn't quite place it, but it felt like the right thing to do. "No sense that all three of us stays up later than we have to. Why don't you guys go pack?"

They both frowned at me, like they didn't like the idea of me going with Helen alone, but they relented. "I'll steal… er… borrow some supplies from the camp store," Jocelyn said with a sideways glance at Chiron. "Make sure we've got enough money, Nectar, Ambrosia, you know, the essentials."

"I'll pack a first aid kit," Theo said. "We should avoid the god food unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Thanks guys," I said. "I'll see you in the morning." I hugged Chiron before I left. "I'll be okay," I said into his chest.

"I hope so, child," he responded softly. Then I turned back to Helen.

"Lead the way."

* * *

As we walked down the sloping lawn in front of the Big House, I asked, "Why couldn't we just talk about it back there?"

"Because you can never tell who's listening out in the open," she said. "You didn't hear me coming, after all. We don't want our conversation eavesdropped on. One of the Hades or Demeter kids would love to find out more about your quest so that they can advance their own agendas. Luckily, I know a place where we can't be listened in on."

"And where is that?"

"The Hecate cabin," Helen explained. "We have magical wards to prevent eavesdropping and unwanted entry. It is the safest place to talk at Camp."

"Won't we wake your siblings?" I asked. "It's getting late, they might be in bed."

Helen smiled dryly at me. In the moonlight, the wide grin and the yellow eyes made her look like the Cheshire cat. "We rarely sleep before two in the morning. Night is the best time to practice magic. And at any rate, there is very little chance of disturbing anyone who's sleeping anyway. It's the nature of the cabin."

"What?"

"You'll see."

I lapsed into silence as we made our way across the central green. I looked in the direction of my cabin. I realized that tonight would be the last time I slept in my bunk for who knew how long. The thought made me sad. I hadn't been living there long, but I already loved the cabin. The way the windows looked out over the ocean, the way the salt water fountain gurgled in the corner. I'd miss Mike and Katherine, too. I had almost asked to take one or both of them on the quest, but it didn't feel right. It was Jocelyn and Theo I'd originally discussed the kidnapping with, and it only felt right that I find out the answers with them, too.

The prophecy ran through my head again. _Granddaughter of two feuding gods_ : that was easy. Poseidon and Athena had been arguing with each other for centuries. That line just specified that I was the one for whom the prophecy was intended. _Must placate war 'tween those at odds_ : I had to stop Hades and Demeter from tearing each other apart. So far so good. But the rest of the prophecy was lost on me. _Why_ was Persephone (obviously the flower goddess the prophecy referred to) asleep? What was this long forgotten keep? What did it mean about gods that were forever gone? And perhaps most pressing of all, who was the Heir to Time? Whoever he was, it sounded like he was behind this whole thing. And besides that, did it even matter what I did? Either way I'd be helping him out, according to the prophecy. I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize we'd reached the Hecate cabin until I ran straight into Helen.

"Careful," she muttered. "I was about to start the incantation. If you'd made me falter or say the wrong words, the results might have been truly horrific."

"Incantation?" I asked. I wondered if I'd missed part of the conversation, because I couldn't remember her saying anything about speaking an incantation.

"To allow you into the building," Helen elaborated. "If you tried to enter without me altering the defense charms to recognize you as an authorized individual, you'd be turned into a plant the moment you passed the threshold."

"Ah," I said. "Has that happened before…?"

Helen smirked. "What do you think? Oh, Alex de Marco made such a lovely spruce sapling. Too bad Chiron made us turn him back before we could plant him in the woods. We were going to put him right near Zeus's fist. Shame."

I didn't know whether to laugh or swallow nervously. I decided for somewhere in the middle: a nervous laugh. Helen had already turned away from me and begun to chant in some language that might have been Ancient Greek, but it was mixed with some words from various other languages. She was speaking the language of magic. I took the opportunity to examine the cabin.

The whole structure was made of stone with engravings that glowed with a faint, pale blue light in the darkness. Torches burning with green fire were bracketed around the exterior at regular intervals. There were no windows, which I thought must have made the interior a rather gloomy place to spend time.

After what felt like ages, there was a soft clicking noise, and Helen stopped chanting. "There, now you won't get turned into a plant. Though I do wonder what kind of plant you'd become… Zeus's descendants have a predisposition for becoming evergreens. I wonder what Poseidon's or Athena's would become. But ah well, perhaps we'll find out another time." That did not inspire confidence in me. I was afraid that she might go ahead and turn me into a plant anyway, just to find out.

But I followed her inside regardless. I was immediately struck by one simple fact. "It's bigger on the inside," I said, astonished. And it was. The exterior was no bigger than any of the other cabins, but inside was totally different. We'd entered some kind of big entrance hall, lit by an old fashioned chandelier. Doors on the walls on either side led into other rooms. Directly across from the front door were two curved staircases. Between the staircases was a huge statue of a woman, who I assumed was the goddess Hecate. She had three heads, which seemed strange to me. The second floor landing had more doors that led off into more rooms.

"If you tell anyone," Helen warned, "we _will_ find out what kind of plant you'll become, and I'll plant you someplace that they'll never look for you. Understood?"

I did the safe thing. I nodded mutely.

Helen let out a sigh. "If anyone else found out about this, they'd all want one. Now come on, we'll go to the study. Best place to talk."

I followed her to a side door next to one of the staircases that I hadn't noticed before and we entered a long hallway. Doors led into still other rooms on the right side of the hall. Torches were bracketed on the left side of the hall. I wondered if anyone in the Hecate cabin had heard of that new-fangled electricity thing. As we walked down the hall, passing door after door, I asked, "Why do you guys need so much room? There are only… what? Eight of you?"

"Most of the rooms aren't bedrooms," Helen explained. "Magic is a lot more diverse than most people think. There are about twenty different branches of Greek magic alone, not to mention Roman, Norse, and Egyptian magic."

 _Norse? Egyptian?_ "What?"

"Nothing," Helen said quickly. "The point is that there are a lot of different kinds of magic, and sometimes different branches don't play well together, so we separate out the different magic rooms. Plus, we've got bathrooms, lounges, a kitchen, a dining room, a library, and a study. We need a lot of rooms to fit all of those things."

I shook my head in disbelief. I could get lost in this cabin. Most people think that they want a mansion. And maybe some people truly would find the sprawling space enjoyable. But I'm a New Yorker. Even when things are big, I like them compact. Like my city. Even like my family's apartment. With something big and spread out I felt something like the opposite of claustrophobia. I made a mental note to find out what the actual term for that was just as Helen came to a stop.

"Here we are," she said, and she opened one of the doors. She led the way into a cozy room, filled with fluffy red couches and chairs. A big rug sat in front of a blazing fireplace. One of Helen's brothers lounged on the sofa, reading a book. A quick glance at the book informed me that it was written in strange runes. Definitely not any language I recognized. "Scoot," Helen demanded. The brother glanced up at me, then looked at Helen. He shrugged. He got up, and exited the room. Helen motioned for me to sit.

I sat in one of the chairs. The thick cushions tried to swallow me. Helen sat in the chair opposite. She steepled her fingers in front of her face and regarded me for a moment. The fire reflected off the whites of her eyes, and blended with the yellow irises, making it look like flames gazed back at me from her eye sockets.

"So," I said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "you have a lead for me? Do you know something about Persephone?"

"Not exactly," Helen said, her sing-song voice quiet. "This is more about my mother."

"Hecate?"

Helen nodded slowly and paused again. "Tell me, Elizabeth," she finally said, "what do you know of Hecate's role in the original kidnapping of Persephone?"

Honestly, I hadn't remembered she'd been involved until Helen said something. But a vague recollection came back to me. "She overheard the kidnapping or something like that, right?"

Helen nodded. "Indeed. Initially, she didn't know who had been kidnapped or who had done the kidnapping, but when she heard Demeter looking for her daughter, she put two and two together. Demeter searched all day and night for weeks. During the nights, Hecate helped Demeter with her search."

It was coming back to me now. "Hecate lit the way with her torches, right? That's what the old story says anyway."

Again, Helen nodded. "When the matter was resolved, Demeter saw to it that Hecate was rewarded for her help. My mother was given a place to stay within the Underworld, where she served as Persephone's attendant. That suited my mother fine. The Underworld is an exceptionally good place to perform magic, you see."

"Do you think she saw who kidnapped Persephone?" I asked.

"No, that would not make sense," Helen said. "It is summer, remember? Persephone is supposed to be with her mother."

I cursed at myself for forgetting such a simple fact. Then I said, "So how is this related to your lead for me?"

"Hecate is clever," Helen explained. "I cannot be sure, but it is likely that Hecate would have developed a way to track Persephone's location. If anyone can tell you where to find Persephone, it is my mother."

I paused to consider. It wasn't a definite. If we went to ask Hecate for help and she couldn't or she refused, that was precious time lost. The solstice was only nine days away. On the other hand, we didn't exactly have any other leads to go on. "So how do I find Hecate?"

"If you want to get a god's attention, the best way to do so is to go to where they live," Helen said.

My heart sank. "The Underworld?"

Helen nodded.

"I can't go there!" I protested. "The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles! I can't fly, Zeus would blast me to smithereens! And going all the way across country would lose me so much time!"

Helen remained unmoved by my outburst, but she did raise one eyebrow. "You quite done?"

"Sorry," I muttered.

"There's another entrance to the Underworld," Helen said, matter-of-factly. "And it's much closer than California. I assume that you've heard of the legend of Orpheus?" I nodded. "Then you'll recall that Orpheus opened a second entrance to the Underworld to try and save his wife."

"The Door of Orpheus!" I gasped. "Where is it?"

"Central Park," Helen answered. "I'm surprised you didn't know about it before, being from New York and all." My jaw dropped open. How _had_ I never known about that before? I'd probably walked or skated right past the entrance many times before. "Obviously, I'd have your son of Apollo friend open it up," Helen continued.

"So, what?" I asked. "I just go to Hades palace and hit the buzzer button for Hecate's apartment?"

Helen smiled slightly. "Not quite. The Underworld is a big place. Hecate has a palace of her own. When you get to the Underworld, instead of following the River Styx downstream past Erebus, you'll turn the other direction and go upstream. Eventually, you'll find Hecate's home."

I blinked. "Okay. Um… how do you know all this? I mean, it's not like Hecate is very present in the old stories."

"No," Helen agreed. "But we've got a lot of books in the library that hold information that didn't make its way into the myths and legends. Especially information about magic."

"Right, well," I stood to go. "Thank you for your help."

Helen stood up as well. "There is no need to thank me. I am merely doing my duty to help you prevent a war. Hades and Demeter are… temperamental gods. Especially when it comes to each other. A war between them would not bode well for humanity. It may not affect the other gods much, but as always, mortals would be caught in the crossfire. And we cannot allow that."

Helen was definitely mysterious, but I realized that that didn't mean she didn't care. In fact, she seemed genuinely worried about what was coming. She was a good person, a lot better than Xavier or Rosa, who were trying to tear each other part every chance they got, or Alex de Marco, who took every opportunity to assert that he was the hottest thing since sliced bread.

Helen led the way back to the cabin/mansion's front door. We were silent all the way through the long halls. When we got back to the entrance hall, Helen stopped me before I left. "Good luck, Elizabeth Jackson. May the gods be with you."

"Thank you," I said. With one last awed look around the entrance hall, I left into the clear night air.

* * *

I started to walk back to my cabin. Even though I wasn't particularly tired yet, I knew that I should try to get some sleep because tomorrow was a big day. But as I walked across the central lawn, ducking behind cover any time a patrol Harpy came by, I got the urge to head down to the beach.

I managed to make it down to the surf without getting spotted. The small, regular waves calmed my racing mind. I gazed out over the Sound, and looked at the twin images of the moon: one in the sky, the other reflected off the mirror of the ocean. A slight breeze came off the ocean, but it was a warm breeze, so I didn't feel too cold.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?"

I started and looked at the voice. It belonged to a man. He stood next to me. He had dark hair and beard, with eyes like dad's. Even in the moonlight, I could see the smile lines around his eyes. His shirt offended me though. If you guessed it was a Hawaiian shirt, you'd be right. This one was in a Tommy Bahama pattern. Were Hawaiian shirts making a comeback? Gods, I hoped not. They were _not_ cool.

"Mind if I sit here?" the man asked.

Strangely, I didn't feel any trepidation. Usually, when you saw a stranger, it was a pretty safe bet to assume they were a monster. Like back in April, when Sierra and I were attacked by a Sphinx that disguised herself as a nun. But we were within the Camp's borders. Monsters couldn't enter unless a camper let them in. And the man seemed so friendly. Even though I'd never met him before, I felt a strange familiarity with him. Like he was an old friend that I'd forgotten. I had a hunch about who he was. "It's a free country," I said by way of answer.

The man chuckled and sat down next to me. "It really is a beautiful night," he repeated. "Wouldn't you agree, Elizabeth?"

I wasn't even mildly surprised that he knew my name. "Yeah," I agreed. He and I sat next to each other in silence for a few minutes.

"You leave on a quest tomorrow." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," I agreed.

"It will be dangerous," the man warned. "I cannot see how it will end, but I know that it will be dangerous." I remained silent. I didn't see any reason to respond to that. He was right, of course. It would definitely be dangerous. "Are you scared?"

That question took me by surprise. In all honesty, I wasn't sure, and I said as much. "I don't really know. I feel like I should be, but I've never been on a quest before. I don't know what to expect. I don't know how scared I _should_ be. I think I'm more scared of the implications if I fail."

The man chuckled. "Thinking about the implications. Spoken like a true granddaughter of Athena."

I smiled a little. "Maybe. But I'm not just Athena's granddaughter, am I grandfather?"

Poseidon smiled widely. "True enough, Elizabeth." It was the first time I'd ever met my grandfather. I'd imagined our first meeting many times over the years. Sometimes there was a fan fair, and Poseidon would stride toward me in resplendent robes. Or perhaps he would rise on a spout of water one day and make everyone cheer. I had never expected our first meeting to be so low key. I liked it better this way. It felt more personal than any of my imagined grandiose scenarios.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord," I said formally. Now that he'd officially revealed himself, I wasn't sure if he expected me to treat him more respectfully.

Poseidon waved his hand. "That's not necessary, Elizabeth. I've watched you grow your whole life. You do not need to treat me like a king."

I smiled. "Alright."

"You're probably wondering why I came to see you," Poseidon said. That's exactly what I was wondering, but I stayed silent, waiting for him to explain. He obliged. "I have come to deliver a gift. Think of it as a late thirteenth birthday present."

He handed me a long package that he definitely had not been holding before. I unwrapped it as quickly as I could, and I gasped. It was a sword, sheathed in a black scabbard. The hilt was white inlaid with gold. In the center of the cross guard was a circle with a trident symbol. I gripped the hilt. I expected it to be uncomfortable because of how ornamental it was, but actually it was very comfortable in my hand. I stood up and unsheathed the sword.

The blade gleamed in the moonlight. It was a double-edged celestial bronze blade, like my father's sword. The balance was absolutely perfect. It was so perfect that I suddenly realized how bad other swords' balance had been by comparison. It was about three feet long. Engraved in the base of the blade was the sword's name.

"Marianas," I murmured.

"Named after the deep sea trench," Poseidon said. "The sword forged in the deep that strikes with the power of the deep sea. A fitting name."

I wholeheartedly agreed. "It's beautiful."

Poseidon smiled. "Yes, it is. I am glad you like it. But that isn't all. Press the trident."

I could reach the trident symbol on the cross guard just by extending my thumb. When I set my finger against it, I was no longer holding a sword. Instead, I was holding a trident. The shaft was long, five feet, with three wicked foot long celestial bronze points at the top. There was something else besides just the weapon change. I felt a change in myself. I was filled with energy, like I had just had five cups of coffee.

"In this form, it enhances and amplifies your powers," Poseidon explained. "It should also help abate the repercussions of using your powers. Plus, it has a couple of extra powers that you'll have to figure out for yourself."

I looked up and down the trident in awe. This was… incredible. I asked what felt like the obvious question. "How do I turn it back into a sword?"

"Think about it," Poseidon said.

I thought he meant to figure out how to turn it back into a sword on my own, but as soon as I focused on trying to turn it back, it transformed back into a sword. "This is the best gift I've ever gotten," I said. I meant it. I had been given a lot of awesome gifts over the years, but this beat them all. A sword straight from the bottom of the ocean given to me by a god? It was that type of gift that you only get once in a lifetime. "I know that a simple thanks isn't enough for such an amazing gift, but… thank you." I sheathed the sword.

"You are welcome, Elizabeth."

"Why me?" I asked. "Why not one of your actual… you know… children?"

"You are the daughter of my favorite son," Poseidon said simply. "You and your brother are very important to me. And besides, none of my offspring are about to leave on a quest. You are."

I was silent for a few moments.

"You have another question," Poseidon observed.

As a matter of fact, I did. "Why did it take so long for my powers to manifest? And why are they so hard for me to use?"

"You have always had the power of the sea within you," Poseidon said. "But until recently, you lacked the necessary motivation to truly unleash it." I had felt _plenty_ of motivation to use my powers before Mrs. Dimitri had attacked me. I didn't particularly like that answer, but I remained silent. "You have an unfortunately block when it comes to your powers. That is why they are so hard for you to use and why they so negatively affect you."

"What caused that blockage?"

Poseidon merely shrugged, which seemed like a strange thing for a god to do. "I do not have an answer. Sometimes powers pass on well and sometimes they don't."

That wasn't exactly what I'd been hoping to hear. I hated not knowing things. And Poseidon was a god! Why didn't he know?

"I know that it is frustrating," Poseidon said, reading my mind. "But we must accept things as they are."

"Okay."

Poseidon placed a hand on my shoulder. "Goodbye, Elizabeth. You'll do me proud."

The breeze off the ocean picked up slightly. When I blinked, Poseidon was gone. I looked at my new sword. "Thank you, grandfather," I said to the water. Then I turned and walked back to my cabin.

* * *

 **Alright! Next time the quest will be officially underway! See you next time.**


	8. Chapter 8: I Get Directions From a Tree

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry that this is later than usual. As always, I want to thank everyone who's read, and definitely those of you that have reviewed, followed, and favorited. Also, this time I'd like to address a couple of comments from AnamariaJovel. First a question:**

 **Q:"Did you have any reason for [Elizabeth and Matt's] names?"  
A: Good question. I always wanted the main character of this series to be named Elizabeth. I never had any particular reason for it except that I really like the name Elizabeth. A little while later I realized that it could be that her name was taking from Rachel Dare's middle name, so if you want to think of that as a reason for the name, you are welcome to, but it wasn't part of my thought process when I named her. Matt was trickier to name. It took me a very long time to name him. I went through several names, but none of them really worked for me. Finally I settled on Matt. Matt also happens to be the name of one of Annabeth's siblings on her dad's side, but again, I didn't really think about it until after I named him.**

 **Also, AnamariaJovel pointed out an error I made in Chapter 3. Goddesses have been kidnapped before, like Hera in The Lost Hero. Good catch. I suppose an in-story answer could have to do with the fact that no immortal that they know of is likely to have kidnapped Persephone (since only Demeter and her kids honestly think it was him), and so they can't imagine anyone else ever having managed such a feat. That's a way to reconcile my mess up with the PJO canon, anyway, haha. Thanks for catching my error, though :)**

 **Alright, that's enough of me blabbing now. Enjoy the chapter. DFTBA!**

Chapter 8: I Get Directions from a Tree

I strapped my new sword onto the back of my backpack, where I would normally strap one of my skateboards. Surprisingly, the straps held the sheath in place with almost no adjustment. Hopefully, the Mist would make people think it was a skateboard. I also strapped my knife to my upper arm, hiding it under my shirt sleeve. As I'd learned with Mrs. Dimitri, it was good to be prepared and having a backup weapon was never a bad idea. Plus, I felt like I should take the knife along. Even though I had a fancy new sword now, I'd had that knife for a long time. It had been my parents' seventh birthday present to me. Apparently that's how old mom had been when she'd gotten her first knife. If I had the knife with me, I could have a little piece of my parents with me. It was like a lucky charm.

I opened up my bag to make sure I had everything. Extra clothes? Check. Bathing suit? I didn't know why I'd packed it, but I had put it in anyway. I didn't know what to expect, and if I had to go into the water, I would rather not drench my other clothes. Emergency rations of Nectar and Ambrosia? Check. Golden drachmas in case of mythical spending opportunities? Check. Jocelyn had texted me earlier saying that she'd gotten a decent supply of mortal money from Chiron and that she may have "liberated" a little more from the camp store, so I figured I didn't need to worry about the little mortal money I had at Camp. I packed it just in case. Satisfied, I shouldered my backpack and turned.

Early morning light was streaming through the windows. It made Katherine's hair look like fire. "All set?" she asked.

"Yep," I said.

She hugged me. "Good luck, Elizabeth."

"Thanks," I said. I really appreciated the hug. It said all sorts of things, but mostly it reminded me that I would have two amazing faux siblings to return to.

"You get into trouble, call us," Mike said. "Katherine and I have grown rather found of having another cabin mate these last couple weeks. I wouldn't want to have to find a replacement."

I laughed. I wasn't sure how much help Mike and Katherine would be able to provide, but I didn't say this. "I will. And I'll make sure I'm careful. Well, careful as possible."

He nodded, a serious look on his face. I could see worry in his eyes. Despite the light-hearted nature of his quip, he was really worried for me. He surprised me by hugging me, too. After one last farewell to both of them, I went to the door and exited out into the morning. It was still too early for most of the camp to be up, but one other person had gotten up to see me off.

He leaned against the exterior wall of the Poseidon cabin, and when he saw me, he stood fully. His chocolate hair was tangled with a serious case of bed head, and he was still wearing his Superman pajamas. Augustus Grace had gotten up to see me off. "Elizabeth," he said nervously. "I uh… wanted to wish you luck."

I was completely astonished. First standing up for me at the campfire, and now this?: Waking up at the crack of dawn to wish me luck on my quest. "Thanks, Gus," I managed. Then, "I mean… Augustus."

A small smile formed on his lips. Then he adopted his serious face again. "I also wanted to apologize to you," he said. "You were right about me when you called me a pompous ass. I don't know why I've been such a jerk to you these past few years, but I am truly sorry."

This surprised me even more. "I was really angry when I said that," I protested, trying to make him feel better. "I didn't mean it."

"Yes you did," Augustus said, seeing right through my lie. "And it was the truth. I needed to hear it."

I shifted my weight on my feet. "Well… thank you for the apology. I have an apology of my own."

"Oh?" he inquired, like he couldn't imagine what I might have done to upset him.

"For almost drowning you, dummy," I said.

"Oh," he said with realization. "It's okay. I probably deserved it."

"No one deserves that." I paused, then added, "I was sort of afraid that you hated me after or that you were scared of me."

Augustus shook his head. "No, I was ashamed. But I got over myself, because frankly, feeling sorry for myself won't do any good. Instead, I should try to make things right with you." It was a surprisingly wise sentiment. There was an awkward pause.

"Just… be careful," Augustus finally said. "I don't know what I'd do if – uh… I mean… I don't know what I'd tell Sierra if anything happened to you."

Was he blushing or was that a trick of the light? For some odd reason, I felt my face getting hot. "I'll be careful. I promise, I'll come back in one piece." I wasn't sure that was a promise I could keep, but I made it anyway. We lapsed back into awkward silence, neither of us clear on how to go our separate ways. "Well," I said, "I'd better get going. Time limit and all. I'll see you when I return."

Augustus seemed to be arguing with himself about something, but he didn't say anything. I turned to leave and started walking away. I'd only made it about three feet when he called my name. I turned back around to see what he wanted, and suddenly I was wrapped in his arms. Augustus Grace was _hugging_ me. And it wasn't a flimsy hug involving a pat on the back. He hugged me tightly. And then just as suddenly, he let go. His face was definitely red now. He gulped, then ran back to his cabin as quickly as his feet would carry him.

My face was so hot now that I could almost feel the blisters forming. I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts of Augustus Grace that had overridden everything else. "Boys," I muttered, then turned and strode towards Half-Blood Hill.

* * *

I met my friends at the top of the hill. The last members of the going away party were waiting there, too. Chiron stood solemnly in full-horse form. Gwendolyn stood next to him, a cup of coffee clenched between her hands.

Jocelyn and Theo were all set to go. Jocelyn wore boots and jeans, and a brown leather jacket over her camp shirt. The butt of her revolver peeked out at me from the unzipped jacket, but it was hidden from view pretty quickly. Theo was dressed normally, and his magic bow and quiver were morphed into a backpack.

"Nice sword," Jocelyn commented. "When did you get that?"

"Poseidon visited me," I said. "He gave it to me."

"That is most auspicious indeed," Chiron put in, and the three of us focused on him. His old eyes looked sad. No doubt this was how many heroes looked before they went to their deaths. "Argus will take you into the City. From there, you are on your own. We can't help you anymore. Please, be careful. Do not take unnecessary risks. Remember your training. And watch each other's backs."

I nodded. "Will do."

"Don't stress out about the prophecy," Gwendolyn added. "Just do your thing, and the prophecy will make sense in the end. Don't try too hard to interpret it, and definitely don't try to change your fate."

It was kinda hard not to think about the prophecy, especially when the lines were written on her shirt. The line about the "Heir to Time" seemed to glare at me. I shook my head trying to clear the thought.

"Well," Jocelyn said, "no point delaying it. Shall we go?"

I nodded and turned to go, but Gwendolyn hugged me. "Good luck Elizabeth."

Chiron kneeled on his front legs and also gave me a hug. "Return safely."

Apparently it was hug Elizabeth day, since everyone seemed to want one. "I will," I promised him. Then I followed my friends down the hill to the Camp van.

* * *

On the way into the City, I told Theo and Jocelyn about my discussion with Helen the night before and where we had to go first.

Theo groaned. "The Underworld? I was hoping to avoid that place until I died at a ripe old age."

"We won't actually be going to the land of the dead part of the Underworld," I assured him. I didn't particularly like the idea of going to the Underworld either, whether we'd visit the parts past Erebus or not. "With any luck," I added, "it'll be a quick trip. We'll get in, talk to Hecate, find out where we have to go to save Persephone, get out. Easy."

"Yeah, super easy," Jocelyn said sarcastically. "Nothing could go wrong with that plan."

Theo ran a hand over his buzzed hair. "So how do we get in? You said there was and entrance in New York?"

"The Door of Orpheus, right?" Jocelyn asked.

I nodded. "Right. It's in Central Park, apparently. Only opens with music."

"Good thing we've got Theo, then," Jocelyn said.

"Why do I have to sing?" Theo protested.

"Because you father is the god of music," Jocelyn said.

"And you've never had a problem singing during the sing a longs at Camp," I pointed out.

"That's with other people," he said uncomfortably. "I don't like singing alone. I feel like everyone is judging me."

I was about to say that he had a beautiful singing voice and that every time he sang it made my heart flutter, but Jocelyn beat me to speaking. "Well suck it up, buttercup."

Theo crossed his arms and looked out the window, a brooding look on his face. It was a cute look. My heart did a little tap dance. I looked away from him pointedly. I couldn't afford to get distracted like that. Maybe after the quest I'd worry about my feelings for him. For now, I had to keep my attention on the task at hand.

For the most part, the rest of the ride into the City was pretty quiet. Occasionally, Jocelyn would make a sarcastic comment, or Theo would ask to go over the plan again, just to make sure he remembered it all right, but other than that, silence. We were all lost in our own thoughts. I wondered what my parents had felt when they'd left on their first quest. Were they scared? Determined? Or something else entirely?

Argus dropped us off at the corner of Central Park West and West 86th Street, which ran straight through the center of the park. We thanked him as we got out, and all of his many eyes trained on us as we made our way to the Great Lawn.

For a while, we just wandered around, not sure exactly what we were looking for. Occasionally, Jocelyn would pick up a small stone and hold it out to Theo. "Try singing at this," she'd say. "Maybe it will open up."

"My family had a picnic right over there once," I said, pointing to a singular tree. I was struck by a wave of nostalgia. I smiled. "Mom and dad were arguing about something that happened when they were younger." I laughed. "Apparently they'd been having a picnic in the same spot but were interrupted by Hermes. After we finished eating, they took Matt and me to the zoo."

"Shouldn't it be Matt and I?" Theo wondered aloud.

"Take the other person out of the sentence," I explained. I used this same explanation a number of times. People constantly seemed to be confusing me and I. "You wouldn't say 'they took I to the zoo.' Thus, you use me."

"Well I sounds better," Theo said defensively.

"Oh shut up," Jocelyn interrupted. "If you two are going to argue about grammar the whole time, I will turn this quest around." We laughed. "Listen, Elizabeth," Jocelyn continued, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a lot of people are starting to show up. If we don't find the Door soon, there will be way to many people around."

She was right. It was still really early in the morning, but already runners were starting their daily workouts, kids were playing games with each other, some teenagers were playing ultimate Frisbee. I saw some people skating, and I wished that I had my board with me. If only we knew _where_ the Door was. Central Park was a huge place. We could spend all day looking and still not find them.

I looked again at the tree where my family had had our picnic. I bet mom or dad knew where the Door was. Of course, they'd never mentioned it. They weren't about to tell their kids that there was an entrance to the Underworld right in their City. That would be crazy. I could try calling one of them, but I was dissuaded for two reasons. First, they were probably still on their own quest with Uncle Leo, and maybe my other aunts and uncles, too. Second, I wasn't sure I wanted them to know I was on a quest until afterwards. I didn't want to worry them. But how else was I going to find the Door of Orpheus? Who else could I ask?

I don't know what made me think of it, but the idea hit my suddenly. I started marching purposefully towards the tree that my family had picnicked under. My friends looked at each other and trailed after me. "Uh, Elizabeth," Theo called. "What are you doing?"

Jocelyn had less tact. "This is no time for nostalgia."

I ignored both of their comments and walked straight up to the tree trunk. I twisted around awkwardly, digging in my bag. Finally, I extracted a few golden drachmas. I pounded my fist on the tree. "Um, excuse me?" I said loudly. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Jocelyn and Theo looked at me like I was absolutely insane. Nothing happened for a moment, so I pounded on the tree again. I started to think that maybe I _was_ insane. Then, I heard a shrill voice say, "Don't knock on me! That is, like, so impolite."

I turned, looking for the source of the voice. The girl appeared suddenly in a puff of green smoke.

She looked like she was in her late teens, though I knew that appearances were deceptive with non-humans. Her skin was tinged very slightly green, as were her eyes. Her hair was bright red, and she had a purple flower in it, just like the flowers blooming in the tree. Strangely, she wore designer clothes, Ray Ban sunglasses, and a Gucci handbag, but I guess that's New York for you: even the trees try to dress fashionably.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "Didn't know how else to get your attention."

The dryad huffed. "Why do you even, like, want my attention? I was, like, trying to sunbathe. I just, like, wanted to enjoy some, like, peace and quiet so I could, like, photosynthesize in peace."

The constant use of the word like grated on me, but I tried to ignore it. "Look, we just have a quick question for you, then we'll leave you alone." I held up the coins. "I'll even pay you."

"Ugh, metal, I'll, like, pass," the dryad said. "You leaving me alone will be, like, payment enough."

I blinked. I guess trees didn't really need money for anything. Kind of stupid of me to think that she'd want the money, anyway. It's not like she was going anywhere. Then I vaguely wondered how she bought her clothes. I pocketed the coins. "So… you'll help us, then?"

It was hard to tell behind the sunglasses, but I was pretty sure the dryad rolled her eyes at me. "Like, duh. As long as you, like, promise to leave me alone."

"Right, great," I said. "Okay. So, do you know where the doors of Orpheus are?"

"The, like, what?" she asked, and my heart sank. Of course she didn't know. But then, she said, "Oh, do you, like, mean that gross pile of rocks that, like, smells creepy?"

I glanced at my friends. They were both frozen with looks of surprise on their faces. I guessed I wasn't getting any kind of confirmation from them. I turned back to the dryad. "That sounds about right," I confirmed.

She pointed. "It's, like, that way. Keep going straight, you, like, can't miss it. It's in a clearing between my sisters." (Hey, she managed a whole sentence without the word like!)

"Thank you so much," I said. "And sorry again for bothering you."

"Like, whatever," she responded, and then, with another poof of green smoke, she was gone. Back to relaxing as a tree.

I turned to my friends. They were blinking away their surprise. I wasn't entirely sure why they were so surprised. It's not like they'd never seen a dryad before.

"That was brilliant," Theo said.

I glowed at the praise. "Thanks! Now, come on, let's go to the Underworld."

* * *

 **See you guys next week! If you live in the United States, like me, have a happy Fourth of July. If you don't live in the US, enjoy your fourth of July as well. Even though nothing exciting might be happening in your country, I want you to have a good day.**


	9. Chapter 9: We Meet Our Worst Fears

**AN: Hey guys! Here's your first chapter for the week. Unlike usual, I'll be uploading my next chapter on Thursday instead of Friday because I'm going away this weekend. Bad news is, the weekend is usually when I do most of my writing, and I edit during the week, so I'll probably only be able to upload one chapter next week :( We'll see though, hopefully I'll still manage two. I know I only promised one chapter a week when I first started this story, but I've loved putting it out for you guys to read, and I've loved the support. You guys all rock, and I honestly and completely mean it. Okay, enough of that. On with the show! DFTBA!**

Chapter 9: We Meet Our Worst Fears

Sure enough, my new friend's directions turned out to be exactly what we needed to find the Door of Orpheus. After double and triple checking that no one was watching, I instructed Theo to sing a song. He chose an 80s rock ballad, blushing the whole time. I didn't know why he was so embarrassed by his singing voice. It was beautiful and caused butterflies to flutter around in my stomach. Anyway, he only had to sing a couple bars for a doorway to appear in the pile of rocks. I tried not to feel too sad when Theo stopped singing.

"Surprisingly good cell coverage down here," Jocelyn commented from in front of me. She had her phone out and the flashlight app activated. She'd chosen to take the lead down the narrow stairwell because, according to her, "I can't trust you morons to lead us anywhere," never mind that I was the one who'd gotten our directions to the Underworld anyway.

"So you guys seemed surprised when I asked that dryad for directions," I said.

"Yeah," Theo agreed from behind me. "It was freaking brilliant. I never would've thought of it. I mean, I know that dryads are tree spirits, but I'd never thought of trying to get their attention like that. Just not something that occurs to you, you know?"

Jocelyn snorted from in front. "Well that's not why I was surprised," she joked. "I was surprised that you, like, were so, like, rude, like, you know?"

"Oh shut up," I said. "Next time I hear the word like, I'm punching someone."

Jocelyn snickered. "I don't know what your, like, problem is with that word."

"That's it!"

But Jocelyn was already sprinting down the stairs, laughing maniacally. I chased after her, and for a moment, I forgot we were going into the Underworld. That changed when I finally caught up with her. I burst out of the stairs' tunnel, and almost ran into Jocelyn, who'd stopped dead. We were in a massive cavern. Above me, massive stalactites clung to the ceiling. A dark river ran in front of us. Downstream, the black gates of Erebus loomed. Just looking at the entrance to the land of the dead gave me chills.

I heard panting behind me, as Theo finally caught up with us. "Oh," he said in a small voice. I glanced at my friends. Both looked as bad as I felt. "What's all that trash in the river?" Theo asked in a small voice.

The black water was carrying a bunch of objects with the flow. There were diplomas, wedding rings; I even saw a little girl's doll. Larger things flowed along, too, like an electric guitar.

"Dreams," Jocelyn answered. "The dreams people left behind as they crossed the River Styx. Dreams they never got to complete before they… you know… bit the dust."

My eyes trained on the picture of a family of four. They didn't look anything like my family, but it made me shudder, regardless. Losing my family was perhaps the worst thing I could imagine. I followed the picture with my eyes until it flowed out of sight, towards Erebus. My friends followed my gaze.

"Can we please just leave?" Theo asked. "The Underworld is way too creepy."

"We've still got a job to do," I said, but my throat was dry. I turned resolutely away from Erebus and face upstream. "Come on, let's go find Hecate's place."

* * *

We stayed well back from the banks of the Styx as we followed it upstream. The water could burn away your essence, and I definitely didn't want to find out what that felt like. Distance was hard to tell in the Underworld, but Erebus disappeared in the distance behind us. The feeling of dread lessened marginally, but that was before we reached the Mist.

Suddenly, it appeared in front of us, like a wall. It was so thick, that we couldn't see anything ahead of us.

"I don't suppose Helen mentioned a wall of Mist, did she?" Jocelyn asked. We stood about a foot away from where the Mist began.

I shook my head. "Nope. Didn't say anything about it."

"That Mist makes me feel… scared," Theo said nervously. "Like, not even normal scared. It's… different."

I briefly considered punching him in the shoulder for saying like, but I decided against it. I felt the same way. Normally, I thought of the Mist as just the veil that separated the mortal and mythical worlds, but physically seeing it was different. And there was something more about it, too. This Mist wasn't just here to hide the true sight of things. There was something more sinister than that.

"We have to go through that to get to Hecate's palace, don't we?" Jocelyn asked.

"Unless we missed it," I agreed.

"Oh you didn't," said a new voice. I was already on edge, and the unexpected words made me jump out of my skin. The man appeared out of nowhere, leaning against the Mist like it was solid. He wore an old timey suit. His face was roundish, and he had a mischievous smirk on his face, like he knew something we didn't. His hair was dark and parted down the center. The ends curled. He could've come from 1900, if it wasn't for the iPad he was holding.

"Eta Electronics makes better stuff," I blurted out, referencing Uncle Leo's demigod friendly electronics company. I don't know why I said it. Probably because I was so on edge that focusing on something I knew – electronics – was comforting.

The man glanced down at the iPad in his hands. "Hecate likes Apple products. And I serve Hecate, so…"

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "And you're supposed to be the smart one," she grumbled to me. Then to the man, "If you work for Hecate, maybe you can help us Mr…."

"Houdini," the man said. "Harry Houdini. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Aren't you dead?" Theo asked. I wanted to face palm. That was not necessarily a great question to ask someone.

But Houdini didn't take offence. "Oh, I am dead. But Hecate got custody of me from Hades. Favorite son privileges I suppose."

"We know a relative of yours," I commented. "Helen is her name. She's a daughter of Hecate, too."

"Oh I know," Houdini said. "Hecate informed me when she and my great-great-great grandnephew had her. But we aren't here to discuss distant relatives, are we? Hecate has been expecting you three." He consulted his iPad. "Elizabeth Jackson, Jocelyn Clement, and Theo Solaris, yes? Here to find out where the goddess Persephone has been taken to?"

"So Hecate will see us?" I said hopefully. It wasn't a surprise that she knew we were coming. Gods probably usually knew stuff like that.

Houdini contemplated that for a moment. "That depends on you. Hecate doesn't see just anyone. You have to prove yourself first."

"How do we do that?" Theo asked.

"Simple," Houdini said, motioning to the wall of Mist behind him. "Make it to her palace. It's straight through the Mist."

"There's gotta be a catch," Jocelyn said.

The comment seemed to amuse Houdini, though it was hard to tell with that perpetual smirk on his face. "You're a perceptive one, daughter of Hermes. Yes, I suppose there is a 'catch' as you would say. This is no ordinary mist. It's not even ordinary Mist with a capital M."

"What makes it unordinary?" I asked.

"This Mist will bring your worst fears to life," Houdini explained. "Either you will defeat your fears, or you will become trapped in your own mind for eternity. Not even death will be able to free you here."

"Oh, great," Theo said in a small voice.

"Can't we just talk to Hecate without going through all that?" I asked nervously. "I mean… you know, the mortal world is potentially at stake here."

"The mortal world always seems to be at stake," Houdini said derisively. "If you can't prove yourself worthy of even _seeing_ Hecate, what makes you think you'd be worthy of her help? The choice is yours. You can turn around and go back to the surface, try to find Persephone without my mistress's help. But you will fail your quest without her aid. Anyway, I'll leave you to make that decision, shall I? If you make it through to the palace, I'll see you there." He stepped back into the Mist and was lost to my sight.

"Well that sounds pleasant," Jocelyn said dryly.

"Maybe it would be better for only one of us to go," I said. "I have a pretty good idea what I'll face in there. I think I can beat it. But if I don't make it out, at least your guys' lives won't be risked."

"No way," Theo protested. He looked terrified, but he was firm. "We're not letting you go in there alone. We'll stick together."

"Yeah," Jocelyn agreed. "Maybe we can fight each other's fears."

I had a feeling that it wouldn't work like that, but I was grateful once again for how willing my friends were to stick by me. I held out a hand to each of them. "Alright, then. Together." They grabbed my hands. Normally, butterflies would have had a party in my stomach when Theo gripped my hand, but I was so full of dread that the butterflies were barely able to roll out of bed.

With a deep breath, we stepped forward into the wall of Mist.

* * *

The Mist was so thick that it was impossible to see more than a few inches in front of us. I couldn't even see my friends. I only knew they were there because of the pressure on my hands. At first, things weren't too bad. But it wasn't long before everything went wrong. Jocelyn yelped to my left.

"No!" she screamed. "Leave her alone! No don't! Please!"

Her hand let go of mine, and she started backpedaling, screaming all the time. "No, Jocelyn!" I yelled. "Come back!" But her voice had already faded.

I gulped. "Theo? Are you still okay?"

"Yeah," he sounded shaky. "But I wonder what the Mist made her see."

"I don't know, but –"

And that's when Theo saw his vision. "Mom? But… but I'm your son you can't… you can't do that!" And then he let go of my hand and fell to his knees, sobbing. I whirled, trying to grab his hunched figure, but he was gone. I didn't know if he'd magically been moved, or if I had, but I was alone now. I only hoped that I could face my fear without losing my mind. Maybe Hecate would help them if I made it to her.

"Alright Elizabeth," I muttered to myself. "You can do this. You know what's coming. You can face it." My worst fear was, of course, spiders. I knew what to expect. I wasn't happy about it, but I was pretty sure that I _could_ face them. Most people aren't aware of their deepest fears, and I'm pretty sure neither of my friends knew theirs. But I figured that since I knew mine, I'd be able to handle it.

And sure enough, the Mist seemed to clear just enough for me to see a massive spider lurching at me. It was about eight feet long, with massive pincers and eight beady eyes. It was even worse than I imagined, and I almost lost my cool.

"No!" I screamed. "Stay back!"

It lunged at me. My hand wrapped around the hilt of my sword and I drew it in an arc and slashed through the huge monster. It disappeared.

I panted, my breath coming in ragged breaths. I did it. But some logical part of me was saying, "That was too easy." I realized that I said the words out loud. I kept my sword firmly in my hand. I hadn't found Hecate's palace yet. It was possible that more spiders awaited me.

I walked forward cautiously, expecting to see another massive spider at any moment. I didn't see any. I saw something else. "Mom? Dad?"

It was them. They stood ten feet in front of me, smiling at me, and holding out their arms for a hug. "Elizabeth," dad said warmly. "Come here. We love you."

"We love you so much, honey," mom said. "You've made us so proud."

I took a few steps forward. Suddenly, both of them stiffened, and something terrible happened. Wounds appeared out of nowhere. Cuts opened on every inch of their skin. There was so much blood that it started soaking the ground. One of mom's arms bent at a weird angle. I heard terrible cracking sounds, and dad collapsed to the ground, both of his legs broken. I choked back a sob and dashed forward. I bounced off an invisible barrier. I watched in horror as my parents slowly died in front of my eyes. From below, a deep and sinister voice laughed. It was cold, and made every hair on my neck stand straight up. It was like a knife scrapping over a rock.

"Who are you?" I screamed. "What's happened to them?"

The deep voice's laugh became louder. "You happened to them Elizabeth Jackson. Or rather, you will. This is what will happen to your parents because of _your_ destiny."

"Who are you?" I screamed again.

"I am your father's greatest enemy."

My limbs felt heavy. "That's – that's impossible. He killed you."

"I am a TITAN, girl," Kronos's voice roared. "I cannot be killed."

"This is an illusion of the Mist," I said, trying to reassure myself. "You aren't here. You're gone. This won't happen to my parents."

Kronos laughed again. "It is true that your father's actions scattered my consciousness so thinly that I will never be able to actively influence the world again, but do not think that I am a mere trick of the Mist. Enough of my consciousness survived for me to see what will come. You have a great and terrible destiny, Jackson. And see what the consequences will be."

The illusions of my parents were both crumpled on the ground, writhing with pain. Blood covered them so thickly that their skin was dyed red.

I fell to my knees. "No, no, NO!" I screamed out in fear, rage, and misery, and swiped my sword through their Mistforms. With a final echo of laughter, Kronos's voice faded away, and the illusions of my parents with him. Actually, the Mist disappeared altogether. I was crouching in black sand. About thirty feet to my right, Theo lay curled in the fetal position. Jocelyn was off to the left with her gun drawn, a wild look on the face. Then their illusions faded, too. Or I assumed they did, anyway. They seemed to regain their bearings.

I stayed crouched down, taking deep, raged breaths, trying not to cry. _It was just a trick of the Mist_ , I tried to tell myself. But part of me knew that it was more than that.

I managed to get to my feet by the time Jocelyn and Theo made it over to me. They both looked as terrible as I felt. I quickly wiped my eyes, then said thickly to my friends, "Well, that was unpleasant." I didn't want to talk about what I'd seen, and from the looks on their faces, I could tell that my friends didn't either.

Theo only managed a nod. Jocelyn said, "Understatement," under her breath.

I looked around. About a hundred feet in front of us was a plan stone building about the size of a shed. I pointed to it. "I think we found Hecate's palace."

"No way that's it," Jocelyn said. "It's tiny. No bigger than a shed."

"Trust me," I said, remembering the magical Hecate cabin back at Camp. "The size is deceptive. Let's go see a goddess."

* * *

As I expected, the interior was as huge and grand as a creepy palace should be. Jocelyn and Theo, however, reacted with the same amount of surprise that I'd had when I'd first seen the Hecate cabin back at Camp. Theo even said the same thing that I had. "It's bigger on the inside," he said breathlessly. Houdini, who'd opened the door, smirked.

The entire place seemed to be made out of black marble. The dark floor reflected our images. The walls were just as black as the floor. Pillars were embedded in them. The ceiling was so high that I couldn't even see it. Torches were bracketed in the walls, which seemed weird considering Houdini had an iPad. A tablet computer but no electric lighting?

The room was shaped like a giant plus sign. Opposite us, about a hundred feet away, a door was set into the back wall. The cross hall had doors at either end, too, I imagined. Houdini led us to the place where the branches of the entry hall met. "Wait here," he said.

Once again, he just disappeared. We waited in silence for a minute. None of us wanted to talk about what had happened out in the Mist. Finally, Jocelyn said, "Hecate better not come in in some creepy ass way." Her southern accent was acting up. "I've had plenty of creepy for one day."

"I've had plenty of creepy for a lifetime," Theo said.

I agreed, but I didn't say anything. I was still thinking about the vision of my parents. Surely that had all been fake right? Kronos was definitely gone. His consciousness was spread too thin to ever coalesce again. But he had acknowledged that. _It is true that your father's actions scattered my consciousness so thinly that I will never be able to actively influence the world again_. But was it possible that some part of him survived? Some part of him had seen some destiny that I was a part of? I didn't like the sounds of that. Not one bit. And the sight of my parents writhing in pain was almost too much to bear. If that vision was real, did that mean they were doomed to die? Kronos had certainly implied it.

I shook my head. Thinking like that wouldn't help me with what I was facing now. Right now, I had a quest to finish. I could figure out about my big, scary destiny another time.

"Oh great," Jocelyn said, "more Mist."

Sure enough, thin Mist curled along the floor. I almost lost my cool. But I was the quest leader. I had to keep it together. "It's fine guys," I said, but my voice was hollow. I wasn't fooling anyone.

"Do not worry," a female voice said, echoing throughout the room. "There is nothing to fear from magic." The voice seemed to be coming from three directions: each of the halls that led deeper into the palace. "People fear magic because they don't understand it." I didn't point out that the Mist outside had been intentionally scary. It didn't seem like the appropriate time for it.

Suddenly, three women appeared, approaching us from different directions. They walked toward the exact center of the room and merged into one woman. In each hand, she held a reed torch. She looked really young, only about twenty, with blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She was pale as a corpse and she wore a sleeveless black Ancient Greek style dress. The contrast was pretty striking. Also striking were her eyes. They were pitch black, like two black holes.

I did the smart thing and bowed. My friends followed suit. "Lady Hecate," I said reverently.

"Welcome to my palace, Elizabeth Jackson, Jocelyn Clement, Theo Solaris," she said. "Well done passing the Mist trial. You have proven yourselves worthy of an audience."

"Thank you, my lady. We have come –"

"I know why you have come," Hecate interrupted. "You seek Persephone, and you hope that I will tell you where to find her."

"Can you?" Jocelyn asked, then hastily added, "my lady."

"Certainly, I can," Hecate said. "But whether I will is a different matter altogether."

I gritted my teeth. I definitely didn't like the sound of that. "And… will you, my lady?"

"Perhaps," Hecate said. "But I am not in the business of giving out help freely. You must prove yourself to me, first."

"Uh, I don't mean to be rude," Theo said. "But didn't we just do that?"

"Proving yourself worthy of an audience and proving yourself worthy of my aid are two entirely different matters, son of Apollo," Hecate said.

"We don't have time!" I blurted out. This goddess was really pissing me off. "The fate of the mortal world hangs in the balance! We don't have time to play games until you're satisfied that we are worthy of your help!" Theo and Jocelyn stared at me in alarm. Belatedly, I realized that yelling at a goddess was liable to get me incinerated. I gulped.

Luckily, when Hecate spoke again, her voice was still calm. "If you cannot prove yourself worthy of my help, why would you be worthy to save Persephone?" I remained silent. I figured that was safer. "I will help you locate the missing goddess, but only once you have proven yourself to me."

"One quick question, my lady," Jocelyn said. "If you can find where Persephone is, why not just tell the other gods?"

"The other gods care very little for an argument between Hades and Demeter," Hecate said. "Hades is too prideful to come to me for aid, and Demeter is so convinced that the Lord of the Dead is the culprit, that she doesn't want to hear anything that might suggest otherwise. There are other reasons as well, but those must wait to be discussed."

Barely managing to reign in my temper, I said, "So what would you have us do?"

"You must complete three trials," Hecate said. "Upon completion of each task, you will be given the location of the next. The first trial is in Niagara Falls."

"What's the trial?" Theo asked.

"That is something you must discover when you get there," Hecate said. I bit back another angry remark. It was ridiculous that this goddess expected us to complete some dumb tests before she helped us. I knew that if I opened my mouth again, I wouldn't be able to control my temper, and I would say something that would definitely get me incinerated. I was pretty sure she wouldn't be so lenient the second time I yelled at her.

"Now, go," Hecate said. "I need not remind you that you have a time limit. Remember, your first trial will be at Niagara Falls."

"Thank you, Lady Hecate," Jocelyn said. I followed my friends' lead, and with a final bow, I followed them out of Hecate's palace.

* * *

 **AN: What'd you think? See you next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: I Plunge to My Death

**AN: Hey guys! As I mentioned last time, I'm giving you the next chapter a day earlier than usual. Unfortunately, as I said last time, next week I'll probably only be able to upload one chapter. Sorry about that :(**

 **As always, thank you to my amazing readers, followers, favoritors, and especially my reviewers. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. DFTBA!**

Chapter 10: I Plunge to My Death

We managed to get back up to the surface without anything else crazy and scary happening. It was already late afternoon. We grabbed a cab for Grand Central. All three of us were silent, lost in our own thoughts. Being confronted with your worst fears in the whole world tends to make one introspective.

The cab driver dropped us off, and we managed to catch the five o' clock train heading west. It would take a few hours to get to Niagara Falls, so we took turns napping as we rolled across the state. It didn't take long to leave the City far behind, with farm lands on either side. Most people don't realize how huge New York State is. Most of it is rural.

We took turns napping over the course of the train ride. You could never be sure when monsters were going to show up, even on an Amtrak train. When it was my turn for a nap, I closed my eyes, but I didn't sleep. My mind kept going over what I'd seen in the Mist. My parents writhing in pain, Kronos taunting me about some kind of huge destiny; it all seemed so real, but surely it was nothing more than a trick, right?

I tried to refocus on the quest. I was still pissed about Hecate giving us the runaround, but at least we had a destination. At least we finally had a goal. That was something I could work with. Another thought occurred to me, too. We'd been outside of Camp for more than twelve hours now, and yet we hadn't run into a single monster. That seemed very unusual to me. Something was going on. Even with the scary stuff in the Underworld, this quest was going too smoothly. Someone or something was pulling the strings, keeping the monsters off our backs.

I remembered my old gym teacher, Mrs. Dimitri. What had she said? Something about a master? I wondered if he had something to do with this quest. It certainly seemed likely. More likely than a coincidence, anyway. I didn't believe in coincidences. If someone really was pulling the strings of my quest, I was almost certain that it was this master that she'd mentioned. I remembered the line from the prophecy about the "Heir to Time" and again I wondered who exactly that was, and what it could possibly mean. Surely the "Heir to Time" and the master that my former gym teacher mentioned were connected. Perhaps the same person.

The whole thing felt staged to me. I was bothered by it. I kept turning the information over and over in my mind, but no answers came to me. I wanted to punch something. I must have drifted off eventually, because next thing I knew, Theo was gently shaking me awake. "We're here."

* * *

Let me take a moment to explain something. There's Niagara Falls, New York, and then there's Niagara Falls, Ontario. Niagara Falls, Ontario, the Canadian side, is the side that everyone wants to go to. It has the arcades, the rides, most of the casinos, the skyscraper hotels; basically it was the more touristy side.

Niagara Falls, New York, the US side, isn't as fun. The state park right at the falls is nice, I suppose. There's lots of green grass and trees, cobbled stone paths, and fantastic views of the falls themselves. But the town itself is rundown. There are lots of closed businesses and decrepit houses. Most of the tourists go to the Canadian side, so even the hotels on the American side were run down. A while back, apparently, somebody had come into the town with big plans to put in a massive mall, and everyone in town had invested. Then the guy up and disappeared with everyone's money. Since then, the town had run into nothing but bad luck.

I don't know about all that. If you ask me, I'd say the gods had cursed the place.

* * *

The train station was really dinky, and had nothing but a few blue plastic chairs inside. We exited the station, and began wandering around the town in the dying light. "This isn't what I expected," Theo said. "I thought it would be more… I don't know. Glamorous, maybe?"

"That's the other side of the border," Jocelyn said. "So what the Hades are we looking for?"

I considered this for a bit. "Well Hecate was really vague about the whole thing." I sighed in frustration. "Stupid goddesses and their stupid side quests. We've just gotta look for anything out of the ordinary."

"Can we check the Canadian side?" Jocelyn asked hopefully.

"We don't have passports or enhanced IDs or anything," I pointed out. "I'd rather not get arrested for trying to cross the border illegally."

"Yeah, I'm a fan of not getting arrested," Theo added.

"Well there's no guarantee that her trial is on the American side," Jocelyn said, disgruntled.

"We check the American side first," I insisted. "If we can't find her, then we find a way to sneak across the border. Until then, no Canada."

"Alright, fine," Jocelyn said. "But I want to get out of here as quickly as possible if that's the case. Since we have no idea what we're looking for, we should split up, cover more ground. You know, expedite our search."

I really didn't like the idea of splitting up. I was very uneasy about the lack of monsters so far. It was entirely possible that this was what the monsters were waiting for. On the other hand, I agreed with Jocelyn. I wanted to get out of here. And not just because I didn't like the town. I wanted to get Hecate's stupid little side quest out of the way.

"I don't know," I said hesitantly. "Splitting up seems like a pretty good way to get into trouble. But you're right, we should hurry…" I paused, considering. Finally I relented. "Alright, we split up. But we call each other if we find anything, okay? If we don't find anything, we meet back up at the train station at ten and discuss our next move. Deal?"

Theo looked about as uncomfortable with splitting up as I did, but he nodded. Jocelyn said, "Deal."

Seeing the mischievous glint in her eye, I added, "And no Canada!"

Jocelyn let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine."

The three of us shared a look, then nodded firmly to each other. "Good luck, guys," I said. We all turned our separate ways. My instincts screamed out against the action, but I didn't really know what else to do. I forced myself to push the feeling to the back of my mind. Of course, had I known who I was about to meet, I wouldn't have separated from my friends.

* * *

About an hour later, I leaned against the railing on the Horseshoe Falls viewing patio. Fun fact, Niagara Falls is actually three waterfalls. Horseshoe Falls (or Canadian Falls) is probably the most famous of the three, but there are two more: American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. All three waterfalls are relatively close to each other, so the whole state park on the American side is basically constantly soaked due to the close proximity to the falls.

Anyway, it was fully dark now, and the lights behind Horseshoe Falls had been turned on. It was quite an impressive feat, and the falls did look beautiful, but I wasn't paying attention. My head was so full of thoughts that I thought it was about to explode. Just then, I was mostly angry at Hecate. I considered cursing her out, see if that got her attention, but I decided against it. That mightn't have been the type of attention I really wanted. I considered calling my friends, see if they'd found anything. It wasn't ten yet, I knew that. I'd set a phone alarm for ten pm. Nevertheless, I was feeling restless. I was reaching for my phone when the voice spoke from behind me.

"Beautiful, isn't it Miss Jackson?" the voice said. The voice was male. He spoke with a weird accent. French maybe? He mangled the J in my name like he might be. Either that or the accent was fake. It _was_ a very strong accent. I wouldn't be surprised if it was fake.

I turned around towards the voice. Before me stood a tall man in a suit. He was standing so straight that I was sure he'd had military training (if he was human, that is). His hair was short and slate grey. His nose was long and beak-like. His eyes were strange. They glinted two different colors: one brown, one blue. It reminded me of the alley cats I saw all the time in New York.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But I've seen it before. Mom and dad brought me here, once. Personally, I prefer the ocean. How about you Mr…?"

"Doctor actually," the man corrected. "Dr. Thorn. I am an old… associate of your father." The way he said associate was clear enough. They'd tried to kill each other. Maybe Dr. Thorn was a monster or something worse. I thought about reaching for my sword, but it was strapped to my backpack. Reaching over my shoulder would be too obvious. He didn't look armed, but that was never a guarantee. I had to distract this guy, keep him talking, while I thought of a plan, or at least figured out how to draw my sword before he could attack me.

"Dr. Thorn, huh?" I said. "Did my dad kick your butt?"

Dr. Thorn smiled, stretching his face unnaturally. He was definitely a man that didn't smile often. There was no humor or warmth in the smile. It was cold. "On the contrary, it was I who… er… 'kicked his butt' as you so eloquently put it."

My blood turned cold as ice. My dad was the most powerful demigod I knew. If Dr. Thorn really _had_ beaten him, I didn't like my chances against him. Nevertheless, I put on a brave face. "You're lying. You didn't beat my father."

"Oh, I am not lying," Dr. Thorn assured me. "I bested the 'great' Percy Jackson more than once. The first time, those infernal Hunters of Artemis interfered. The next time we met, I would've had him if not for that insufferable wine god…"

"Mr. D helped my dad?" I asked. It was probably the most surprising thing I'd ever heard in my life.

Dr. Thorn snarled, which seemed like an expression he was more accustomed to making than smiling. "Inconsequential to this meeting. I did not come here to discuss your father, or even to wreak vengeance upon you for my defeat –"

"Oh, thanks for that."

"– I have come on the behest of my master," Thorn finished. Of course, I could attack him with the river, but it would probably do me more harm than good. I cursed the unfortunate drawbacks my powers came with.

While one part of my brain weighed the benefits and consequences of calling on the river, the other part considered what Thorn had just said. He had mentioned a master, just like Mrs. Dimitri. "Monsters keep mentioning this 'master.' Who is it? Who's your puppet master, Thorn?"

A low growling sound emanated from the back of Thorn's throat. I shifted my weight nervously. It sounded like Thorn was getting tired of our little Q&A, and the only plan I had was a vague one about calling on the river as a distraction. Great, just great. "You will meet him soon enough," Thorn said. "If you survive."

That's when he transformed. He bent over on all fours. His hands and feet transformed into massive claws with huge talons. He got bigger, his clothing transforming into glistening golden fur. His face stayed pretty much the same, though. He reminded me a bit of the sphinx I'd fought a couple months ago. Except where his lion tail should've been, a thicker tail emerged, covered in a black exoskeleton. The end prickled with spikes. He was a cross between lion, man, and scorpion. And now I understood how he'd beaten my father. Dr. Thorn was a manticore.

"Oh, I am so screwed," I muttered.

Spikes shot from the scorpion tail. I yelped and dodged to the side. Thorn was as accurate with those spikes as Theo was with a bow. My half formed plan sprung, and I released the tension I'd let build in my gut. A huge wave burst from the Niagara River and washed over Thorn. It was just enough time for me to draw my sword. But Thorn had recovered quickly. Three more spikes were headed my way, but I deflected them at the last second.

Of course, that's when my side effects hit. Black spots danced in my vision from using the river the way I had. I felt like I was gonna puke, and the weight of an anvil settled on top of my brain. I gasped out in pain and collapsed to my knees. Suddenly, one of Thorn's paws slammed into me, and I flew to the side like a rag doll. I slammed into the safety railing, and I felt it dent behind me with the force of the impact. Thank the gods for my backpack cushioning the blow, or else I would've definitely broken a few bones.

Dr. Thorn laughed. The black spots in my line of sight were getting larger, seriously obscuring my vision, but I saw the manticore leisurely strolling towards me, gloating over his easy victory. "Perhaps my master was wrong about you. Certainly you cannot be the one. I suppose I'll just have to kill you now."

That sounded awfully familiar. The words of Mrs. Dimitri rang in my ears, _Well you didn't exactly meet my master's expectations_. And then I heard another voice in my head. _Use the trident_. It was my grandfather's voice.

I was such an idiot. I managed to pull myself to my feet. "What is it with you monsters underestimating me?" I croaked. I pressed the trident button on my cross guard. My sword transformed. Marianas hummed with power, and gave me the kick start I needed. The spots in my eyes went away, the headache dulled to a manageable throb, and the urge to vomit up everything I'd eaten in the last week was no longer so urgent. I wasn't in great shape, but now I could fight.

The new weapon didn't seem to deter Thorn. He pounced towards me, getting in close. I cursed. The trident would be useless in such tight quarters. I switched back to sword mode. On the plus side, I was also too close for him to effectively shoot spikes at me. Nevertheless, that tail still swung around, trying to hit me. It took all of my concentration not to get sliced apart. He'd successfully backed me into a corner, right up against the railing. It was all I could do to block his talons, or knock aside his flailing tail. But I was keeping him at bay.

He reared back to deliver a huge blow with both paws. I took the opportunity. I rolled between the outstretched paws, then switched back to trident mode. I swung the pointed side around and stuck him in the butt. I hoped he'd just dissolve, but he was two powerful to go down in one hit. However, he was already off balance, only being on two paws, and the stab in the butt made him fall forward. He slammed into the safety railing, and a ten foot long chunk of it ripped out of the ground and fell into the Niagara River, instantly being carried over the falls. I hoped he'd follow, but he scrambled to regain his balance, his tail whipping around wildly to counter his weight.

I moved in to strike again, give him that last shove to send him over the falls, but I was careless. The flailing tail came whipping towards me. I tried to bash it aside with the trident, but the barbed tip of one of the spikes sparked off the metal and slammed into my right shoulder. My shirtsleeve was ripped apart, and the spike cut my skin.

The force of the blow sent me spinning. Miraculously, I managed to stay on my feet, but now my right arm was numb. No way could I effectively use the trident without both hands. Not without more training. I cursed and turned Marianas back into a sword. I switched to my left hand. The sword felt awkward on my left. It felt sort of like holding a pen in the wrong hand, except much worse because the sword was longer and heavier.

Thorn had caught his balance and turned towards me. His face split into that creepy grin of his, and he even let out a bark of maniacal laughter. He would've won the _Best Supervillain Laugh_ contest, hands down. "I have bested you, Miss Jackson," he gloated. "Surrender now or die." Based on his earlier statements I doubted his master wanted me killed. Then again, if he killed me, I doubted I'd get to complain to his boss about it.

"You only bested me on accident," I taunted, which may not have been my smartest move ever, but I was mad. I was _not_ about to fail my quest only a day in. "And you haven't even done that yet. I'm not finished." I _felt_ finished, but I raised my sword defiantly.

I made a mental note to practice fighting with my left hand. If I survived, that is. The scorpion tail swung around. He wasn't even bothering to shoot the spikes anymore. He could tell I was out of steam and out of tricks. I knocked aside the tail with a clumsy parry, but I was unable to bring my sword around in time to block his massive paw, which came around in a backhand swipe. I went sprawling and found myself right next to the edge of the river where Thorn had ripped away the railing.

"It's over, Jackson," Thorn snarled as he plodded towards. He lowered his ugly mug close to me, the better to gloat. "You've lost." Spit pelted my face. _Gross_.

But I had a getaway now, thanks to Thorn. I just hoped that I wouldn't splatter on impact. I said a quick prayer to Poseidon for luck. "Piece of advice, Thorn," I said. "Say it, don't spray it."

I pulled my legs tight to my chest and kicked him in the face. He roared, but it was too late for him to retaliate against me. The force of the kick had propelled me, like a springboard, over the edge of the platform, into the Niagara River, and over the falls.

* * *

 **See you next week! I'll definitely have at least one chapter for you :)**


	11. Chapter 11: I Go Shopping For Jewelry

**AN: Hello all! Sorry about only having one chapter this week! Next week, I should be back to my dual uploads. Also, fun fact: after this chapter, we're halfway there, assuming I stick to my plan.**

 **AnamariaJovel asked a question, and as always, I'm answering it here.  
Q: "Did you write this to mimic Percy's experience falling into the Mississippi? Because it kind of felt familiar in that way, as if Elizabeth was following in her father's heroic footsteps, a risk taker like he was, and is."**  
 **A: Yes, I did. I am very intentionally drawing parallels with Percy's journey. In fact, you'll be seeing several more throughout the entire series I have planned. In much the same way that Percy's adventures followed the adventures of old Greek heroes, Elizabeth's adventures parallel her father's. As for why I am choosing to draw these parallels... well... spoilers ;)**

 **If you have any questions about the story, put it in the comments, and I'll answer it next time! Enjoy the chapter. DFTBA!**

Chapter 11: I Go Shopping For Jewelry

I really hoped there weren't rocks at the bottom, or if there were, that I didn't hit any of them. Trouble was, the mist created by the falls was so thick that is was almost impossible to see what was right at the bottom. Of course, it was entirely possible that it didn't matter if I hit the rocks or not. Hitting water from high enough up was liable to splatter a person on impact. I knew my dad could survive the fall, but could I? I wasn't sure my powers were strong enough. I wished I could've switched to trident mode, but it was all I could do to hold onto the sword and not stab myself with it.

FOOM. I hit the water. It hurt, but I didn't splatter like a bug on a windshield, so that was good. Instantly, the current dragged me away, and I went tumbling through the dark water. This time, I did manage to switch to trident mode. The weapon glowed green underwater, and the current stopped pulling me with such force. I drifted down to the bottom of the riverbed. I was alive. I marveled at my good luck.

Just then, my chest twinged painfully. For a moment, I thought that I'd broken a rib. I felt the sides of my chest with one hand and held onto the trident with the other. None of my ribs were broken, so what was the pain…

Oh, duh. I was holding my breath. I'd gotten pretty good at the whole breathing underwater thing with Katherine, but it was time for my first field test. I forced myself to breath in the water. It felt weird and alien in my lungs, but my body accepted it. I took several gasps of air… er… water as I stood there at the bottom of the Niagara River. I checked myself over quickly. Feeling had returned to my right arm, which was good, but there was still a thin cut on my shoulder. My headache was starting to worsen again, and my nausea was reasserting itself. Normally just breathing underwater only gave me a slight headache. But combined with the outburst of power I'd used earlier as well as keeping the current from carrying me away had taken a lot out of me. Even with Marianas in trident mode, there was only so much I could do. I needed to get back to shore. I looked around, trying to figure out how far down river I'd drifted, but the low light made it difficult to tell.

"Well," I said aloud, and my voice came back to me like a bad recording, "the current is coming from behind me so… the American shore must be to the right." Thinking aloud was almost as good as listening to music, but I could only do that when I was alone. Otherwise I'd get weird looks. I turned and walked to the shore.

* * *

I pulled myself roughly from the water. The effort was exhausting. My muscles ached, my headache pounded away, and I fought the urge vomit. Plus I was really cold. The night was warm but my clothes were so waterlogged that I couldn't help but shiver. I looked around. I was on the shore right next to the docks where the "Maid of the Mist" (the boat that does the up close tours of Niagara Falls) left from. That meant that I'd floated several hundred yards downstream.

I slipped off my backpack, which was completely soaked, too. Miraculously, I hadn't lost any of my things, but they were all drenched. My extra change of clothes, my money, my phone; all of it was completely soaked. Luckily, every piece of Eta tech was waterproof, so my phone was going to be okay. In fact, it looked like I had a text message. I set out all my things in the hopes that my stuff could dry at least a little bit, but the mist from the falls was so thick I didn't know if it would do any good.

Nearby, a massive tower of glass and metal connected the top of the cliff to the docks, which was how people got to the Maid of the Mist. There was no one around. Good. I wanted to get out of the waterlogged clothes I was wearing. I changed into my swimsuit because at least it wasn't as heavy.

I tapped my phone screen to check who my text message was from. It was from my brother Matt. It showed him holding a blue chocolate chip cookie with the caption "Jealous? ;)". Actually, I was a little bit jealous. Grandma Sally's chocolate chip cookies were the best things I'd ever tasted in my life. And for some reason I was briefly overwhelmed by nostalgia and homesickness. I missed my brother.

I was suddenly pulled from my reverie by a cackle of laughter. I whirled around, startled. I was suddenly very aware that I'd changed into my swimsuit. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; change out of the wet, heavy, cold clothes and into something lighter to try and warm up. Now with the old lady approaching, I wish I'd stayed in my wet clothes.

I had no clue where she'd come from, but she looked homeless. She had a bunch of stringy grey hair. Her nose was long and hooked, with a wart on the very tip. One eye was slightly larger than the other, and as she laughed, I noticed she had all of one tooth. She walked hunched over, bent almost in half, and her clothes were grey rags. Honestly, she looked like the witch from that really old Snow White cartoon. "That's a mighty fast river young'un," she croaked. "Takes skill to survive a swim in it."

Creepy old ladies were usually either monsters or gods. I hoped it was the second. One god in particular. "Hecate?" I asked.

The old woman cackled again, and I decided the sound was more grating than nails on a chalkboard. "I don't know no Hecate, but it sounds like a pretty cool name."

"Right," I said slowly. Definitely Hecate, then. Though why she was insisting on playing a game and pretending not to be the goddess of magic, I didn't know. Especially when I'd just called her out on it. But gods were stubborn that way I supposed.

"Say, young one," the hag said, "would you help me with something?"

I rolled my eyes. Did she honestly think she was fooling me? No doubt this was the trial I had to complete here. "Sure," I said, playing along. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I lost my most precious possession," she explained. "It's a golden ring. A blasted gull took it from me."

"A gull? You mean like a seagull? How'd you manage to get your ring stolen by one of those rats with wings?" I was feeling particularly sassy in my exhaustion, which wasn't unusual for me.

"I had taken it off to clean it," she said indignantly. "And the bird swooped down and stole my ring. A lot of gulls have nests at the base of American Falls. The ring is probably there. And I saw you come out of the river. You are a powerful swimmer. You may be able to help this old woman. Would you please go get it for me?"

I was half tempted to say no and tell the stupid goddess to get her own damn ring. I was tired and really feeling quite awful still. I didn't fancy trying to control the waters to go back upstream to the American Falls. Yet, what choice did I really have? My friends and I had to find Persephone, and the clock was ticking. Already we'd lost an entire day. If I was right, and this old hag really was Hecate, then this was the best shot we had at getting the information we desperately needed to rescue the missing goddess.

I sighed. "I'll go get your ring back," I said reluctantly. "You'll watch my stuff?"

"Of course," the woman assured me.

If she wasn't actually Hecate, and was really a homeless person then I'd probably get back to find all my stuff gone. But that seemed a pretty mild risk to some of the dangers I'd already faced in my thirteen years.

"One more thing before I get going," I said, and rummaged through my wet things. Finally I pulled out a plastic baggy. Inside were squares of ambrosia, food of the gods. I was always nervous about using the stuff. Too much could burn a demigod to ashes, but it was even more dangerous for a legacy. We had less god in us, so it took even less to make us spontaneously combust. (But Elizabeth, you have two demigods for parents! Doesn't that mean you have have just as much god in you as a normal demigod? No. That's not how it works.) Nevertheless, I had a feeling that this fetch quest would be harder than the old woman was making it sound, and I wasn't about to try it while I was on the verge of keeling over. I grabbed one and stuffed it in my mouth. My pain and nausea subsided a little, but I felt a faint buzzing in my eardrums. I decided not to risk any more of the stuff.

I turned back to the river and gripped Marianas the trident tightly. Then I dove into the water.

* * *

I immediately discovered one of the extra powers Poseidon told me Marianas had in trident mode. Somehow, by holding the trident out in front of me, I was able to shoot through the water like a torpedo. The current of the river bent around me. In seconds, I was at the base of American Falls.

Unlike the base of Horseshoe Falls, there were a lot of rocks at the base of American Falls. Thank gods I hadn't leapt off here. And like the hag had said, there were a lot of gulls nesting on the rocks, but most of them scattered when I burst out of the water. The mist from the waterfall was so thick here that I could hardly see. I kept blinking, trying to keep the tiny droplets of water out of my eyes.

"Right," I said aloud. "If I was a golden ring at the bottom of a waterfall, where would I be?"

I leaped from rock to rock. Keeping my balance on the slick rocks was difficult, and several times I fell into the water. I was happy for the unencumbering swim suit that I'd changed into. After about fifteen minutes of searching this way, I started to get even more irritated than I'd already been, which was pretty considerable.

"Stupid magic goddess," I muttered as I tried to leap to the next rock. I lost my balance and fell into the water yet again. Out of the corner of my eye something glinted. _No way_ , I thought. I swam to the glint. It was a golden ring with two crossed torches on the front. I had, miraculously, stumbled upon the ring by mistake.

I pulled myself back onto one of the rocks holding the ring. It was definitely what I'd been sent to get. Crossed torches were one of Hecate's symbols. I slipped it onto my finger for safe storage. Something was wrong though. No way was this supposed to be so easy. I was certain that once I'd found the ring I would be attacked by a horde of demon gulls. Or maybe when I grabbed the ring fiery words would appear on the surface. _One ring to rule them all_ and all that jazz (what, it could happen). But nothing.

I pushed back the uneasy feeling I had, and turned to return to the water. I yelped and leaped back because a face had appeared in the water. The slippery rock caused me to totter, but I managed to hold my footing. When I had finally caught my balance, the face had attached itself to a body. A man stood on the surface of the water facing me. I was getting sick and tired of being surprised. Also I wanted to know if I could stand on water like that.

The man looked Native American, with bronze skin and brown hair done in long braids which seemed like a traditional hairstyle. However, his clothes didn't match the image of traditional. The clothes screamed "modern tourist." He wore a Maid of the Mist poncho and had a waterproof disposable camera hanging around his neck. I didn't even know they made disposable cameras anymore. I thought of them as relics of my parents' day, like non-3D TVs and Katy Perry. Even his shoes were tourist-y. They were the flip flops from the "walk behind the falls" thing that you could do.

"Please don't take that ring," he said. His voice was deep and melodious.

I avoided his request and asked a question instead. "And who might you be?"

"I am the spirit of the Niagara River," he answered me.

"And you want the ring because…?"

Niagara shrugged. "It is the nicest piece of litter that has fallen into me in decades." He made a disgusted gesture to his clothes. "As you can see, tourists often leave things behind in me, and I become stuck with them. But that is a lovely ring. Having that within me makes me feel better about all the other trash humanity sees fit to dump in me."

I figured Uncle Grover would take this opportunity to talk to me about the evils of littering. And I agreed that littering was bad. But it wasn't like I could do anything about it right now. I felt bad for the guy, but at the same time, I wasn't sure that this particular piece bling really fit him. "Right," I said. "Well, I'm really sorry about all the litter you've been getting, but you see, I kind of have a quest. See I need this ring to get farther on it. And if I don't complete the quest, then a couple of gods will go to war."

"Which gods?" Niagara asked.

"Hades and Demeter," I replied. Maybe I could convince him to let me take the ring without a fuss. That'd be really nice.

"Those are… Egyptian, right?" Niagara asked, tilting his head like he was trying to remember.

I blinked. "Uh… Greek."

"Ah, yes," Niagara said. "That's right. You'll have to forgive me. I've been here a very long time. I still remember the old Iroquois gods, but then those upstart gods from the east came with those settlers and made me into this." Once he again he gestured to his clothes in disgust. "I never bothered to keep track of which gods belonged to which of those foreign religions."

"The Iroquois myths are real?" I asked in wonder. I'd always grown up accepting that Greco-Roman myths, legends, gods, etc. were true. But the idea that the Native American gods were real too had never crossed my mind before. Something nagged at the back of my mind, but I pushed it aside for now. I could start developing those thoughts later.

"Of course they are!" Niagara exclaimed. "Now those were proper gods! Too bad they were destroyed by those foreign gods." He shook his head.

I shifted uncomfortably. "That's really sad," I said. "I'm sorry about that. I understand that you don't particularly care about the Greek gods, but if I don't succeed in my quest then mortals may pay the real price for the gods' fight."

Niagara did not look sympathetic about that. On the contrary, he looked excited. "You mean no more filthy tourists? That's wonderful news! I definitely won't let you take that ring now."

This wasn't going so well. I decided to play my last card. Maybe he didn't particularly care for the Greek gods, but surely Poseidon's name still carried some weight. He was lord of the seas after all. "I am Elizabeth Jackson, granddaughter of Poseidon, and in his name I demand you let me pass with this ring."

"Who? Oh, the water god! Big crocodile dude."

"Uh –"

"I quite like him," Niagara said thoughtfully. "But I hate tourists more. And if that ring is going to help you stop a war that could destroy them, then I'm not letting you take it. Plus, it's a pretty ring. Hope you understand. It's nothing personal."

And then the Niagara River attacked me.

* * *

For those of you who have never fought a river before, let me sum the experience up in two words: not fun. Niagara the dude disappeared beneath the water, and then instantly the entire river surged up around me. The water dragged me off the rock. I flailed about underwater, trying to swim up to the surface. Niagara was preventing me from breathing underwater. The current spun around me quickly, locking me in an underwater cyclone.

Disoriented, I stabbed out blindly with my trident, but you can't exactly stab water. Niagara kept me under until I was about to pass out, then I shot out of the surface of the water like a cannonball. I only had a split second to catch my breath before I plunged back underwater. Once again, Niagara tossed me around like a rag doll underwater.

My back scraped up against something hard and rough. It hurt, and I knew my back was probably bleeding now, but my panicked, oxygen deprived brain retained some sense. I lashed out my left hand even as the water started pulling me away from the hard object. I gripped tight to the rock. There weren't any decent handholds, but luckily my few days at Camp had been enough to develop my rock climbing skills. I decided that if I got back from this quest alive, I'd have to thank Chuck Hedge for being so hard on us.

The water tugged at me, trying to rip me away from the rock that had become my only hope. But I wasn't about to give up. With strength that I didn't even know I had in my arm, I hoisted myself out of the water and up onto the large rock. I scrambled to my feet, gasping for air. My right hand gripped my trident so hard that my knuckles turned stark white.

Niagara appeared on the surface of the water and snarled at me. "You're hard to kill."

I panted,"Naw, you just underestimated me. Everyone always seems to do that. Say, since I'm proving so difficult to kill, why don't you just let me go? Save yourself the trouble."

I response to my request, he roared loudly. Suddenly, the waterfall stopped falling. Instead, it gathered at the top of the cliff in a huge wall of water. I was pretty sure that he was going to throw that wall of water directly at me. If he did that, I was toast. Soggy, soggy toast. And soggy toast is the worst.

I backed up a half step on my rock, going into a defensive stance: one foot behind the other and gripping the trident with both hands. Not that I could do anything. Niagara was out of reach, and it wasn't like I could control the water. I'd been trying to exert my will over the water since the fight started, and so far, no good. But the stance was instinctive more than anything.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Blue energy gathered at the tips of my trident. And just as suddenly, the energy shot from the end. The trident recoiled, and the bolt of energy shot at Niagara. He screamed as the blast slammed him in the chest and he burst apart into water. Guess that was another one of the trident's special powers.

The wall of water that he'd been gathering at the top of the cliff dropped. Luckily, it didn't drop straight at me, like I was sure it would've had Niagara had his way. Nevertheless, millions of gallons of water dropped down from the cliff. The roar of the water crashing back down the cliff face was deafening. My ears popped, and the water slammed over me and swept me off my rock. Luckily, the blast I'd sent Mr. Niagara's way must have disrupted him pretty badly, because I could breathe and divert the current around me.

When my head broke the surface again, I surveyed the damage. Several rocks had been smashed to dust. Trees that had previously been clinging to the nearby cliff faces had been ripped out and were floating away downriver in chunks. Water had splashed all the way up the cliff on the Canadian side. Sirens wailed on both sides of the border. They were distant, but heading towards the falls. I double checked to make sure the ring was still on my finger, then swam back to where I'd left the old woman.

* * *

I found that she'd relocated herself and all of my things onto the Maid of the Mist docks. She'd built a roaring fire, which was quite a trick considering all of the mist from the falls. I'm pretty sure building a fire down of these docks was illegal, but whatever. When you were a goddess, I guess you were above the law.

She cackled again when she saw me, and I almost lost my temper with the insufferable goddess of magic. But I bit my tongue. "You're back young one! Excellent! Did you find my ring?"

I pulled it off my finger and tossed the gold band to her. Then I sat down next to the fire. All my things were there, and they were perfectly dry. I pulled on one of my t-shirts and a pair of jeans as I talked. "That ring was a lot of trouble, lady."

"I know, that's why I dried your things," she said. "As thanks for your help. It was so kind of you to help a little old lady like me."

"Uh huh," I said. "So… is there anything else? Perhaps… I don't know… the location of your next stupid trial, Hecate?"

The old woman laughed again. If she cackled like that one more time, I was going to run her through with my sword, and screw the quest. "I told you, I don't know anyone name Hecate. But I do quite like that name. However, I am something of a fortune teller. If you want my opinion on where you should go next, I would say Las Vegas."

I raised an eyebrow. "Las Vegas?"

"Yes, dear," the woman said. "I have a feeling that you'll find what you are looking for at the Lotus Hotel and Casino."

My blood seemed to freeze in my veins. I gulped. Unfortunately, I recognized the name of the place. "The Lotus, you said?"

"Yes, of course, dear," the woman said. "When I was younger, I once visited there myself. The place is wonderful. You'll love it there so much, you'll never want to leave!"

* * *

 **AN: Yes, more parallels with Percy's adventures right away! Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you all again on Tuesday!**


	12. Chapter 12: We Ruin A Minivan

**AN: Hello again all! As always, I'd like to thank everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed. I'm very grateful for the support I've been getting.**

 **N left a couple of reviews last time that I'm going to address.  
Q) "** **Hey do you plan on making any sequel?"  
A) Yes. Actually, I have a whole series planned out. But we've got to get through book one first, haha.**

 **N also pointed out that he/she feels my chapters have been getting shorter.  
A) I don't exactly have a set length for chapters. I end chapters where it feels right for me to do so. I do shoot for between 10 and 15 double spaced pages in Word. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's more; I don't usually concern myself with exact lengths. The nxt couple chapters are pretty long ones though :)  
**

 **Alright, that's all from me. Enjoy the chapter and DFTBA!**

Chapter 12: We Ruin a Perfectly Good Minivan

I met my friends back at the train station. I had missed several phone calls from them – I was late for our rendezvous. I called Theo back and told him I was okay, promising I'd explain at the station. The trek across town in the middle of the night was long and painful. My back ached from my new scrapes with every step, and my head felt like someone was going at it with a jackhammer. By the time I finally made it back to the station, it was almost midnight.

"Where were you?" Theo asked when he saw me. He rushed forward and gave me a hug. My heart almost stopped when he did.

The hug was far too short for my liking. When he pulled back, I noticed chalky white marks on his dark skin. A singular feather was stuck to the top of his head. Jocelyn had come over to us, but rather than being pleased that I was safe, she looked annoyed. Her clothes were slightly singed. "And where have you been, young lady? I have half a mind to ground you."

I laughed. "So sorry, Mom. I got held up. But what about you guys? What happened with you?"

"I got attacked by a few harpies," Theo said.

"Ran into a laistrygonian," Jocelyn said impatiently. "Now, come on! You were the one that was late. You'd better have a good explanation."

I held up my hands in surrender and told my friends what happened: Dr. Thorn, falling over the falls, running into the old hag who was definitely Hecate, and fighting the Niagara River itself. As I told my story, Theo checked over my back and did some first aid. It was really distracting the way his fingers skimmed over my bare skin.

"And Hecate just refused to acknowledge that it was her, even after you got her the stupid ring?" Jocelyn asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty dumb."

Jocelyn snorted, "Gods." I shared her sentiment.

"So did she tell you where to go next?" Theo asked.

I frowned. "Las Vegas. The Lotus Hotel and Casino."

"Okay, what's with that look?" Jocelyn said. "I've always wanted to go to Vegas and try the slots!"

"Don't you have to be eighteen to gamble?" Theo asked, scratching his head.

"I am the daughter of Hermes," Jocelyn said, looking offended. "I'll gamble if I want to, and no silly rule about being eighteen is going to stop me. Anyway, I'm all for going to the casino!"

"This isn't just an ordinary casino," I explained glumly. "My parents went there once a long time ago, and Nico do Angelo, a friend of the family –"

"Know who he is," Jocelyn interrupted. "He's almost as famous as your family."

"Right, well he spent some time there too," I continued. "The place makes it so you never want to leave. It hypnotizes you or uses some other magic to make you want to stay forever. And that's not the worst of it."

"What's the worst of it?" Theo asked.

"Time moves differently in there," I said. "Days can pass by in a few hours. Nico was trapped in there for like… seventy years, but it only felt like a few weeks to him."

There was a pause while my friends let that sink in. "That's where we have to go?" Theo asked, dismayed.

I nodded grimly.

"It's like Hecate wants us to fail," Jocelyn grumbled. I kind of agreed with her, but I also didn't see that we had much of a choice. When I expressed this, Jocelyn rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I agree. I'll get us tickets."

There was no direct train to Las Vegas, but we could still get there by train. We'd have to switch a couple of times, and we'd have a long layover in a town called Amber Waves, Nebraska. I couldn't believe that someone had decided to name their town that, but whatever. The next train heading out of the Niagara Falls station in the right direction left at six in the morning. In all, the trip would take about two days, which meant we'd have six left when we arrived in Vegas. And who knew how much time we'd have left after the Lotus, assuming we left at all.

We bought the tickets anyway, and sat down in the blue plastic terminal seats. We decided just to stay there the night because a) as minors, we couldn't very well check into a hotel and b) even if we could, we wanted to stretch our money as much as possible.

Jocelyn stretched out across several of the blue plastic chairs and said, "I call not first watch." And then she shut her eyes. In seconds, she was fast asleep.

Theo shook his head. "That was scary fast."

I chuckled. "You should see my brother Matt. He falls asleep even faster than that."

We were both silent for a moment before Theo spoke up again. "Do you miss him? Your brother, I mean."

"Yeah," I said. "I do a bit. He's only a year younger than me. We've always been close."

"My brother's six years older than me," Theo said. "But I miss him a lot, too, sometimes."

I looked at him, surprised. "You have a brother?" Theo nodded. "Another son of Apollo?"

He shook his head. "No, he's 100% mortal. But we were always raised as full brothers by our mom."

"I thought you were a year rounder?"

"I am. A couple of years ago, mom disowned me. I haven't been home since. Martin – that's my brother – he said he'd take care of me when he's able to, but he's only twenty and still in college. He doesn't have the money for me to live with him."

I frowned. This was a story I'd heard some times before: demigods who left their families, either by choice or because they were forced to. Theo's story didn't really surprise, but I felt sad for my friend all the same. With some considerable trepidation, I grasped his hand. "I'm sorry to hear about that. Is that what you saw in the Underworld when we went to Hecate's palace?" I remembered that his worst fear had had something to do with his mom. I'd heard him scream about it. I instantly regretted bringing it up, though. Theo tensed up and withdrew his hand. "Sorry," I said quickly. "Forget I said anything."

"Anyway," Theo continued, turning away from the memory of his worst fear with some difficulty, "Camp is my home now. You and Jocelyn and all my other friends are my new family. And I do still keep in touch with Martin, but… I still miss him."

I nodded. "I can imagine."

The air between us was awkward now because of my mistake in mentioning the fear thing. Finally, Theo spoke again. "Why don't I take first watch, huh? You've had a busy day with falling over a waterfall and all. Doctor's orders," he added with a small smile.

I _was_ beat. I'd used up almost all of my reserves, and I really needed to sleep of my headache. So I lay across a few of the plastic chairs and slept.

* * *

The train ride was pretty boring. After admiring the sights for a couple of hours, I fell back on my go to when there wasn't really anything to do. I went down to the shop car and bought a pair of earbuds. (I couldn't believe I hadn't packed a pair before I left Camp.) Irresponsible use of our money? Maybe, but it was only five dollars, and I _needed_ to listen to my music. After I got back to my seat, I plugged my headphones into my phone, turned on my music, and thought. There was a lot to think about. Who was Dr. Thorn working for? Where was Persephone? And why did this whole quest still feel like it was all staged?

Mostly, though, I was toying around with an idea I'd developed when I was talking to Niagara. _I still remember the old Iroquois gods,_ he'd said. And, _Too bad they were destroyed by those foreign gods._ I wondered if any Native Americans had ever built temples to their gods…

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I pulled out one of my earbuds, and faced Jocelyn, who was holding out her phone to me. "Why are you handing me this?" I asked.

"Read it," she said grimly.

The webpage was a news source. The headline of the article was "Food Prices Skyrocket as Sudden Drought Strikes the Midwest." The article was depressing because I knew what it meant. Demeter was mobilizing for war.

"It's already starting," I said. "But it's not even the solstice yet!"

"I know," Jocelyn said. "If I had to take a guess, this is a warning shot. And Hades has fired off one of his own."

"Hades fired off a warning shot, too?"

Jocelyn took her phone back from Theo, to whom I'd passed the phone so he could read the article, too. She brought up a new webpage and passed it back to me. This time the banner at the top read "Miraculous Survival: Nine-year-old survives three hundred foot drop." The boy had apparently fallen off the roof of a thirty story building and landed on the sidewalk feet first. His survival was impossible, but he had, somehow, survived (though what he was doing on that rooftop at all, I didn't know). He would be crippled for life, but he would have a life.

"I just thank God for saving him," his mother was quoted as saying.

 _If only she knew which god, and what it meant for the future_. "Hades left him alive?" I said, passing the phone to Theo.

Jocelyn nodded. "I think so. There's no other explanation for it. There are a couple of other things like that. I think Hades is ordering Death – Thanatos, I mean – to overlook a few people."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Theo asked.

"No it isn't," Jocelyn insisted. "This is Hades's warning shot. Just as Demeter is slowing down food production, showing Hades she means business, Hades is halting Death in a few cases. If we can't find Persephone in time…"

"Then food production will likely stop altogether," I finished. "As will Death. Humanity will be starving to death but unable to die while Hades and Demeter go at it."

We were all silent for a moment. Finally, Theo said, "And I don't suppose this 'Hades overlooking certain people for dying' thing will help us out at all?"

"I wouldn't count on it," Jocelyn said darkly. "At this rate, I'm not sure if Hades and Demeter will actually wait until the solstice. We're running out of time."

"I'm gonna punch Hecate in the face," I declared. "She should've just told us where Persephone is."

With that, we all fell back into silence.

* * *

It was late at night when we pulled into the Amber Waves, Nebraska train station, where we had our long layover. The station was, if possible, even more bare bones than the one in Niagara Falls, with a single row of seats, a vending machine empty of everything but gum, and a desk where a singular employee sat at a computer that looked like it had come out of the stone age.

Most people had just stayed on the train to sleep, but the few other passengers who'd debarked got right back on. I was about to suggest to my friends that we do the same, when Jocelyn pointed out a flier. "Guys, look."

The flier advertised a place called "Crazy Welle's 24 Hour Diner!" After eating crappy train food all day, I was ready for some real food. Plus the flier said they always served breakfast, which meant bacon. My stomach growled.

"Let's go check out Crazy Welle's," I said. We hoisted our bags (not wanting to part with our things) and set out.

It turned out that Crazy Welle's was right down the street from the train station. The interior of the place was decorated '50s style with a counter and some booths and tables. The seats all had red upholstery, the tabletops were chrome, and the floor was tiled in white and black. We had the place to ourselves. We grabbed a table in the back.

The waitress had just taken our orders when the bell dinged and the door opened. I glanced up absent-mindedly and saw the woman who'd entered. She was quite tall, with dark hair and a fierce expression. I'd never met her before, but I recognized the stormy grey eyes. They were shrewd and seemed to take in every detail to add to the woman's ongoing calculations. I'd been fixed with intense grey eyes just like those before, and I had fixed others with those eyes.

The woman came straight over to our table and took the empty fourth seat. Jocelyn and Theo shot me panicked looks. No doubt they thought she was a monster. I held up my hands to indicate that everything was okay. The new woman sat directly across from me. Her eyes were locked onto my face, waiting to see what I would do.

"Hello grandmother," I said calmly.

At this, Theo and Jocelyn scrambled to show signs of respect or deference to the goddess, but Athena held up a hand to stop them. "There is no need to observe formalities at this time."

Nevertheless, Theo said, "It's an honor Lady Athena."

The waitress presently returned with our food. She asked whether Athena wanted anything, but she declined and the waitress left again. I went straight for my side of bacon and inhaled it. Athena raised a solitary eyebrow at me. Was it rude of me to go straight for my food? Probably. But if Athena didn't understand the wonders of bacon, that was her problem, not mine.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Jocelyn asked.

"I am the goddess of wisdom," Athena replied. "Knowledge is power." It wasn't a direct answer, but I knew what she was getting at.

I swallowed my bacon. "You have information for us," I guessed. "About Persephone?"

Athena paused and I could tell that she was considering how to answer. "Whoever has taken Persephone has hidden her well. No god can sense her location."

My heart dropped. "Then even Hecate's magic can't find her? We're doing all of this for nothing?"

"Hecate's methods are different," Athena said. "Her magic may be able to locate Persephone; that much is true. She has the best chance of finding her, at any rate. I am not overly fond of Hecate and her games. Too often she insists on defying logic. But as I have said, she is the best chance you have at finding Persephone."

"I actually have an idea about that," I said. My friends looked at me, puzzled. I hadn't brought up the idea I'd been toying with since my fight with the Niagara River. But bouncing my idea off the goddess of wisdom herself was not an opportunity that came around often. "My prophecy mentioned something about a keep of gods that are gone. And when I was fighting the Niagara River, he mentioned something about the Iroquois gods being real, but that they were destroyed."

Athena nodded slightly. "Yes, when the Europeans came to the so-called New World, not only were mortals fighting each other, but their gods were. For better or worse, the Europeans succeeded in conquering the natives, and so too did we, the Olympians, conquer their gods."

"So could it be possible that the keep of gods that are gone is referring to a temple for some Native American god?" I asked. "Or some other religious site? That that's where Persephone is hidden?"

"That's brilliant, Elizabeth!" Theo exclaimed.

Athena looked thoughtful. "It is possible. But that does little to narrow down your search. There were hundreds of native religious practices all throughout North and South America. Many of their religious sites were destroyed by Europeans and, later, EuroAmericans, but that doesn't necessarily mean that those places can be ruled out. No, your best chance of finding Persephone in time is to cooperate with Hecate."

I sighed, massaging the bridge of my nose. Athena was right of course, but this was frustrating. There was no guarantee that Hades and Persephone would actually wait until the twenty-first. They were already firing off warning shots.

"At any rate," Athena went on, "I did not come to talk about where Persephone is, but to inform you as to what is happening with the other gods."

"What's going on then?" I asked.

"Demeter and Hades are already preparing for war," Athena said.

"We noticed," Jocelyn put in. "Crop failures, miraculous survivals, that sort of thing."

Athena nodded. "Yes. It is most unfortunate. However, the Olympian Council will stall their full war with each other as long as possible. I have talked Lord Zeus into calling an emergency council session on the solstice to attempt to mediate the situation. This should forestall true conflict between my Aunt and Uncle, but they _will_ go to war unless Persephone is safely returned by the solstice. There are too many centuries of bitterness between the two of them."

"So how much time has this meeting bought us?" I asked.

"A few hours at best," Athena informed me. "But war will not truly begin until after the council meets. You _do_ have time."

"Not a lot," I said.

"No," Athena agreed. "But time enough to succeed. And you must succeed. If war truly does break out between Hades and Demeter then things will get much worse for humanity. All crops will immediately wither and die. Hades will recall Thanatos to the Underworld, and death will grind to a standstill. Then he'll unleash his army of the dead into the world."

I'd figured as much, but it was still disturbing to hear it spoken aloud in such a matter-of-fact manner.

"What about the other gods?" Theo asked.

"Some of us are doing our best to mediate the conflict," Athena said. "But unfortunately, many of my fellow gods do not wish to become involved. They want to stay out of the way of Hades and Demeter's conflict. Most gods will remain neutral in the war until the balance sways definitively in favor of one side in order to expedite an end to the conflict."

"But by then it will be too late," I said bitterly. "The mortal world will be in ashes after just one day of open warfare between two gods."

I hoped Athena would say, _"Naw, JK. The mortal world's gonna be fine."_ No such luck. Instead, she just nodded grimly and said, "By the time the other gods throw their weight behind the more successful side, Western Civilization will be in tatters."

I gulped. The food on my plate no longer interested me. Thank gods I'd already finished my double side of bacon. "So… the world's gonna end in like… seven days. Great. Anything else?"

"A warning," Athena said, and her eyes blazed as she intently stared at me. "Beware your fatal flaw, Elizabeth."

I felt a chill go down my spine. Everyone had a fatal flaw. Or at least every hero did. And it was called fatal for a reason. "And uh… what is my fatal flaw?"

Athena shook her head. "That is something that you must discover for yourself. But beware. Your fatal flaw could cost you not only your life, but the fate of the world."

And then Athena disappeared.

"Well that was uplifting," Jocelyn commented dryly.

I sighed. Gods were just plain obnoxious. Why even bother warning me about my fatal flaw if she wasn't going to tell me what it was? I checked the time on my phone. The train was due to leave in fifteen minutes. I put some money on the table. "Come on, let's get back to the station."

Jocelyn and Theo made noises in the affirmative, and followed me back outside. As soon as the doors to Crazy Welle's Diner closed behind us, three black SUVs pulled up in front of us. That wasn't a good sign. It was an even worse sign when the doors opened and an assortment of monsters climbed out of the vehicles.

The passenger door of the front SUV opened last, and out stepped Dr. Thorn. "Hello again, Ms. Jackson," he said in his bad French accent. "I believe you and I have some unfinished business."

* * *

The monsters stood still, waiting for Thorn's orders. He stood in front of them, hands clasped behind his back. Theo had already drawn and nocked his bow. Jocelyn had her revolver and whip out. I drew my sword.

"You were in such a hurry to leave before," Dr. Thorn said. "It is unfortunate that you left so quickly. I was hoping we could continue our conversation."

I smiled sarcastically. "Well, I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time to chat right now, either. My friends and I have got to catch our train. Hope you understand."

Dr. Thorn made a tsking sound. "A pity. I was looking forward to it. Ah well."

"So… you're letting us go?" Theo asked hopefully.

In response, Thorn waved one of his hands and the monsters surged forward. Theo and Jocelyn took out a couple of monsters before they reached us, but then we were in close quarters combat. I slashed my sword at the monsters. Theo whacked them with his bow in one hand and stabbed out with an arrow with his other hand. Jocelyn lashed out with her whip and fired off her remaining rounds into the monsters. There were definitely more of them than there had been originally in the SUVs. Meanwhile, Dr. Thorn stood back and watched. I knew what he was doing. He was letting the other monsters wear us down. That way, when he entered the fray, we would be nice and tender for him.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Of course. The mortals in this town probably thought that this was some kind of street brawl. "We've gotta get out of here!" I yelled to my friends. "Any ideas?"

"One," Jocelyn yelled back. "But it's of… questionable legality."

"Legality's not my primary concern right now!"

"Then cover me!" Jocelyn shouted. I wasn't sure how she expected us to do that, since Theo and I were each dealing with plenty of monsters on our own, but slowly we repositioned ourselves so that we were between Jocelyn and the monsters.

"Where's the girl going?" Thorn yelled. "After her!"

"Theo!" I yelled.

"Got it," he responded. I stepped out in front of him and slashed some dracaena to dust. Theo nocked three arrows at once and shot them at the monsters that had broken off to chase Jocelyn. "Hope her plan is a good one!" Theo said.

"Me too," I responded. A dracaena and I locked swords, and for the first time on the quest, I drew my backup weapon. I whipped out my knife in my left hand, and I stabbed the snake woman in the side.

Suddenly there was the roar of an engine and screeching of tires right behind us. I glanced behind me. Jocelyn was in the driver's seat of a minivan. The sliding door was open. "Come with me if you want to live!" Jocelyn shouted. Then added, "I've always wanted to say that."

"Stop them!" cried Thorn. He was already running back for the SUVs.

Theo was in the van first. He fired four arrows into the mob of monsters, which bought me just enough time to jump in the vehicle. Jocelyn stomped on the gas and we sped off. I wrenched the sliding door shut. "When'd you learn to drive?" I asked.

"In the past," Jocelyn snapped back. "Focus! We've still got company!"

She was right. The three SUVs were right behind us, and rounding the corner behind them were the flashing lights of the police vehicles. We disregarded the speed limits completely and screamed around corners even faster than my dad would be able to take them. Somehow, Jocelyn, who wasn't even old enough to drive, was driving like a pro racer.

"What are we supposed to do about them?" Theo asked, jabbing his thumb at the SUVs chasing us.

"I've got an idea," I said, climbing into the back row of seats. Now I know what you're thinking. In a deadly car chase, shouldn't you be seat belted? Probably. But I wasn't.

I slammed the hilt of my sword into the back windshield. It shattered. I pressed the trident button and pointed the business end out the window. Theo saw what I was going for and joined me in the back. He nocked an arrow and fired it at the ground in front of one of the SUVs. It exploded.

"Nice trick!" I said. Then I concentrated on trying to do that energy blast thing that I'd done before. The energy gathered at the tips of my trident and I fired it off at one of the SUVs.

"So I noticed that we're not losing them," Jocelyn commented dryly from the front, but I could tell how nervous she was. Her southern accent was the strongest I'd ever heard it. "Also, I thought you should know that the train left the station exactly a minute ago."

A lightbulb went off over my head. A certifiably insane lightbulb that would almost certainly get all of us killed. But it was an idea.

"Find the tracks!" I commanded.

We swerved down the streets and out past the edge of town. The SUVs were still on our tail and the cop cars were in sight, but wisely keeping their distance. I could hear them yelling over the load speakers to pull over. Massive hellhounds had joined the chase, too. They were pretty fast. Somehow they were keeping up with the cars. I let Theo handle the hellhounds. They reminded me too much of dad's old pet Mrs. O'Leary.

We pulled up alongside the train tracks, right in line with the back car of the train. The back car of the train had a scenic viewing platform, with black metal bars surrounding it. "Get us as close to the train as possible!"

"Are you mad?" Jocelyn cried out.

"Just do it!" I shouted back.

Cursing like a sailor, Jocelyn drove us off the road and smashed through the chain link fence separating the tracks from the street. We swerved onto the gravel embankment next to the tracks. The train started to speed up.

"Can we go faster?" I asked. "We need to keep up with the train!" I finally pushed past my block and blasted a hellhound with my trident. I blinked away the tears as I remembered Mrs. O'Leary.

Jocelyn complied with my demand. The minivan's engine roared in protest, but we sped up. "Okay, Theo," I said. "Stop shooting arrows and go back to the middle row. I can keep them at bay for now."

Theo did as he was told. "Now what?"

"Open the door!" He did so. "Okay, in your fantastical quiver of tricks, do you have any grappling arrows?"

"Yeah, but they take a couple minutes to get set," Theo said. "And they wouldn't work particularly well here."

"Then you'll have to jump," I commanded.

"What?" Theo yelped in alarm. "Are you crazy?"

"Just do it!" I yelled for the second time in as many minutes.

Theo wrenched open the sliding door. He muttered something that might've been "Geronimo," then jumped. He slammed into the railing and grabbed hold. With an effort, he hoisted himself over the top of the bars and onto the safety of the platform. I stopped firing energy at the monsters and switched back to sword mode. I sheathed my weapon. I tossed Theo his bow and quiver.

"Cover us!" I wasn't sure if he heard me over the roar of the wind between us, but he seemed to understand what he was supposed to do. He fired arrows at our pursuers while I worked on the next step of my ridiculous getaway plan. I threw our bags across to the safety of the platform. That just left me and Jocelyn in the van.

"So how're you gonna get me out of here, Wise Girl?" Jocelyn asked. I bristled at her use of dad's nickname for mom.

"Working on it!" I snapped. I leaned over the center console in the front. We had to keep the van moving straight and at this speed long enough to let Jocelyn stop driving and leap across. But how? If I took the wheel, besides the fact that I didn't know how to drive, then _I_ wouldn't be able to get across.

I'd replaced my knife in the sheath under my sleeve. I pulled it out again and stared sadly at the blade. I didn't like the idea of leaving the blade behind. I had a sentimental attachment to it. I'd had it for more than six years; I'd killed monsters with it. But between my knife and my life, I'd choose my life.

"Take your right hand off the wheel," I said.

Jocelyn did so. I stabbed my knife through the wheel and into the dashboard, locking the steering wheel in place. "Alright, that takes care of going straight," I said. "Now how do we keep the car going this fast?"

I started looking around at the things that were in the car. "Hey genius," Jocelyn interrupted me. "Ever heard of a little thing called cruise control? Keeps the car going the same speed?"

I smacked my forehead. Gods of Olympus, I was an idiot. "Is it already on?"

Jocelyn climbed out of the driver's seat to demonstrate that cruise control was, indeed, already on. I didn't know when she'd switched it on, but it was good thinking. We both clambered into the middle row of seats. The police cars were screaming along parallel to the tracks. Meanwhile, the SUVs and hellhounds following us had mounted the tracks behind us.

I motioned to the door. "After you," I said.

"No please, I insist," Jocelyn said. She held a courteous hand out towards the open door.

I sighed. Well it was either go first or bicker until we died. I swallowed my fear and jumped, slamming into the metal railing. I cried out in pain and almost lost my grip, but Theo's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. He heaved, I pulled, and then I was aboard the train.

Next was Jocelyn. "Hey dad," she yelled. "If you could magically loan me a pair of your flying shoes for a moment, that'd be great!" She jumped. Maybe Hermes had heard her prayer, because she cleared the bars altogether and slammed into Theo and I. We fell in a tangle on the scenic viewing platform.

We untangled ourselves. Monsters were still chasing us, the police were still yelling over their megaphones as they drove along the road parallel to us. I really hoped that they hadn't seen three teenagers jump aboard the train. Meanwhile, our borrowed minivan still sped alongside us, but it wasn't looking so good anymore. Smoke had started pouring out from under the hood.

"Now what?" Theo asked.

"I've got it!" Jocelyn shouted. She was reloading her revolver. "Gods I hope this works!"

She shot out the van's tires. Sparks flew. The van fishtailed, then flipped, rolling end over end, spewing debris and wreckage all over the train tracks. The hellhounds were caught in the wreckage and vaporized. The SUVs hit the brakes so hard that they flipped, too. The police screeched to a halt alongside the massive car wreck. The train started to pull ahead until, at last, the wreckage was a small blip of flashing red and blue lights in the distance.

Jocelyn, Theo, and I were silent. Then, simultaneously, we burst out in the crazed laughter reserved for a near miss. We laughed so hard that tears streamed down our faces. We became so hysterical, that I lost track of whether we laughing or crying.

Finally we calmed down. "We are _never_ doing that again," Theo said, breathing heavily.

I couldn't have agreed more.

* * *

 **See you guys on Friday!**


	13. Chapter 13: What Happens in Vegas

**AN: Hello again everyone! As always, I'd like to thank all of you so much for your support. It really does mean the world to me.**

 **Again, we have a couple of questions from a reviewer, this time from a guest called Kenzie.  
Q) "What does DFTBA mean?"  
A) DFTBA is the catchphrase of the Vlogbrothers, a YouTube channel. They made a community called Nerdfighters, which isn't people who fight nerds, but rather nerds who fight to make the world a better place. DFTBA stands for "Don't Forget To Be Awesome."**

 **Q) Kenzie also asked where/how I came up with the prophecy in this story.  
A) In truth, coming up with the prophecy was one of the last things I did while planning this story. Prophecies are hard to make, at least for me, so I sort of reverse engineered the prophecy. I figured out what I was going to do first, then I came up with the prophecy.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me for now. Enjoy the chapter! DFTBA!**

Chapter 13: What Happens in Vegas… Well, You Know

We managed to get safely back to our seats fifteen minutes later. Five minutes after that, news of our exploits hit the internet. There was no mention of us, just a group of hooligans in stolen vehicles that got in an accident on the railway tracks resulting in thousands of dollars of property damage. But no mention was made of crazy teenagers jumping aboard the train leaving town.

That should've relieved me. No cops chasing after us! We weren't wanted criminals! But I wasn't relieved. It troubled me. The Mist was strong, there was no doubt about that. But this seemed like too great an oversight to be natural. The train hadn't even been stopped by the police to ask questions about the passengers. No cop worth his doughnuts would give up on a case like this. But all the news suggested that the investigation was an open/closed ordeal.

A singular thought nagged at the back of my mind: this was too easy. Don't get me wrong, we'd already face _plenty_ of danger. Our getaway just now had been an extremely close miss. But it had been a miss. By all rights, there should've been some consequences; major injuries, a wanted status by the police, or even getting captured by Dr. Thorn, but none of that had happened. We hadn't even lost any of our stuff, with the exception of my old knife. We were catching every conceivable lucky break. We were having _too much_ good luck.

A normal person would've said that there was no such thing as too much good luck. A normal person would have reveled in their good fortune. I, on the other hand, questioned it. Someone or something was manipulating every phase of this quest, and I was certain that it was a bad thing. My mind flashed back to the line in my prophecy about the "Heir to Time." More than ever, I wondered who that was.

Theo was sound asleep, his face pressed up against the window. The night countryside sped quickly. Theo snorted in his sleep, and I failed at suppressing a giggle.

Jocelyn glanced up absently from her phone, where she was still browsing through the news about the wreckage we'd left behind. She'd pulled her wind-blown caramel hair into a messy ponytail. She had deep shadows under her eyes. She looked exhausted.

"You should get some sleep," I commented.

She shrugged. "Got too much on my mind. _You_ should get some sleep. You look ready to pass into a coma."

I _was_ really tired. But I shrugged. "Got too much on my mind," I mimicked. Jocelyn snorted.

"Whatever you say, Jackson," she said.

"So where'd you learn how to drive?" I asked. "I mean, you're the same age as me, so…"

Jocelyn tensed. Apparently it was a touchy subject. "About three years ago," Jocelyn said slowly, like she was trying to not say too much, "I lived on this big piece of land. There was this dead end road that turned into our driveway. There were no other houses on the street. My mom used to let me drive to the end of the road."

I decided not to press the issue, but I didn't see how driving to the end of the road practically made her into a racecar driver. Something had happened to her mom, and I had a bad feeling that I knew what that was. I decided to lighten the mood a little. "I'm guessing that you didn't learn how to hotwire a car from her?"

Jocelyn gave me an almost imperceptible smile. "No, that was the first time I've done that. But I had a feeling I could. I'm pretty good at stealing things. It's like… a sixth sense. I can _see_ things – how to operate locks, how to rewire alarms – that sort of thing. So I figured I could hotwire a car. Turns out I was right."

"Sounds like a kleptomaniac's dream come true," I joked.

"Yeah," Jocelyn said quietly, which left me confused. Clearly there was a lot about Jocelyn that I didn't know. I knew her very well, on the surface level, but I wondered what my friend was like underneath, and whether she'd ever trust me enough to tell me about her past. I hoped so. Jocelyn cleared her throat, changing the subject. "Have you been thinking about the prophecy?"

I looked at her thoughtfully, but finally I said, "Yeah, I have been."

"What do you suppose it all means? Especially the bit about the Heir to Time."

I shrugged helplessly. "I wish I knew. I hate not knowing. I'm missing just a few important details. I know that if I find those details, I can put it all together like a puzzle."

"That sounds like your inner Athena speaking," Jocelyn noted.

I shrugged. It was true. I may have chosen to stay in Poseidon's cabin, but in a lot of ways, I was more like my grandmother.

"That was some good thinking earlier, by the way," Jocelyn said. "Best on the fly planning I've ever seen."

"Thanks."

Jocelyn yawned. "Well if you're going to be stubborn and not sleep, then I _am_. Wake up Theo if you start nodding. One of us should keep awake, just in case. You can never be too careful."

"Yeah," I agreed.

A few minutes after Jocelyn fell asleep, I got a text message from Sierra, letting me know that she'd finally finished training with Lupa and had made it to Camp Jupiter. We texted for a while and I realized how much I missed my friend. I told her all about Camp Half-Blood, but I left out the small detail that I was on a quest. I figured that would be the opposite of her dictate to stay out of trouble. Eventually though, my mind was racing too fast. I just wanted to think. I told her that I was going to get some sleep then I plugged in my earbuds and started up my tunes.

* * *

It was early the following day when we finally arrived in Las Vegas. There were six days left until the solstice. Theoretically, that should give us enough time to finish our quest, but I didn't place any faith in that. Despite what my grandmother had said about delaying the conflict, I wasn't so sure that Hades and Demeter would wait. And that wasn't even taking into account the Lotus. If we were in there for too long…

During the previous day on the train, my friends and I had run through our options. We concluded that we had no choice than to play along with Hecate and go into the Lotus. Jocelyn came up with the idea of setting alarms on our phones to go off every hour, remind us why we were there. We did that, but I had a sneaking suspicion that whatever magic made people want to stay forever would render our phone alarms useless.

We left the station and wandered around for a little while. At one point we asked a passerby if he knew where the Lotus Hotel and Casino was. The man laughed in our faces and told us there was no such place. We decided that he was just being a jerk, so we asked other passersby. No one had ever heard of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

"So let me get this straight," Jocelyn said as we stood on the street, unsure what to do, "we're supposed to find Hecate and complete her stupid trial in a place that doesn't exist?"

"It exists," I assured her. I knew it did from the stories I'd been told, but finding the place was proving a lot harder than I'd anticipated.

Theo wiped his brow. His skin glistened with sweat. "Well can we find it quickly? I'm really hot." The day _was_ already hot, despite the early hour. The weather app on my phone informed me that it was already one hundred degrees, with a predicted high of one-fifteen. As much as I was anxious about going into the Lotus, air conditioning would be nice.

I sighed in frustration. I was about to suggest that we find some place to eat and cool off. Then I looked across the street and saw them. Three teenagers were walking down the other side of the street. All three of them wore identical purple t-shirts, and had backpacks and weapons. Weapons that no one seemed to register. "Hey!" I yelled, sprinting across the street to them.

The three teenagers, startled, looked at me in surprise. My friends trailed a few feet behind me, just as surprised. The oldest looking of the three purple-shirted teens was a muscular Mexican American guy with dark hair in a crew cut. The sword strapped to his side was a gladius, like my brother liked to use. One of the others with him was a slim, squirrelly guy with glasses and sharp black eyes. The third member of their group was a pretty Asian girl with red streaks in her dark hair, pretty brown eyes, and unblemished skin. Well, with the exception of the barcode tattoo on her arm. The other two had similar tattoos. I was, of course, familiar with those tattoos.

Jocelyn and Theo finally caught up with me. The three purple shirted teens looked at us quizzically. "You guys are from Camp Jupiter, right?" I panted.

The oldest guy nodded. "Yeah. You three must be from Camp Half-Blood?" His voice was a pleasant baritone.

I nodded and extended my hand, "Elizabeth Jackson, nice to meet you. These are my friends, Theo and Jocelyn."

"Sup," Jocelyn commented.

"Did you say Jackson?" the Roman with glasses asked. That prompted the girl to elbow him.

"Nice to meet you," the oldest guy said, shaking my hand. At a guess, I'd say he was the leader of the three. "Name's Centurion Tony Perez."

"Luke Eddy," the squirrely boy said.

"Alicia Hilton," the girl greeted.

"So what can we do for you?" Tony asked. "I assume you didn't just come over to introduce yourself."

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could give us directions," I said. I briefly debated how much was necessary to tell them. We needed their help, but perhaps telling them everything would've been foolhardy. We'd just met them, and one does not reveal their secrets to strangers. After deciding to keep information about the quest to a minimum, I said, "See, we're on a quest –"

"Oh yeah, and we're picking daisies," Luke commented sarcastically.

Alicia shushed him, then smiled brightly at me. "Keep going."

"Well we're looking for the Lotus Hotel and Casino," I explained. "None of the mortals seem to know where it is. You haven't heard of it, have you?"

Tony shared a glance with his friends, then turned back to me with a grim expression. "You don't want to go there. You'll never come out."

"So we've heard," Jocelyn said. "But see, our quest doesn't actually allow us much of a choice. Can you help us or not?"

Tony sighed, but he gave us directions. He didn't ask us any more details about our quest, and he didn't offer any about his. I was vaguely curious, but as he'd respected my privacy, I decided to respect his. "Good luck," he said. "I hope you come out of there. And I hope that your quest is successful, whatever it is."

"Thanks," I said. "Good luck with yours, too."

* * *

The Lotus Hotel and Casino was a huge, ostentatious building. How mortals couldn't see it was beyond me. The Mist was truly marvelous. The entrance was a massive flashing neon flower. Air conditioning wafted out of the open doors, and the sound of games reached me. The smell of delicious, non-train food beckoned me, and I was sure that somewhere in that building there was a real bed waiting for me. After spending the last few days sleeping on trains or on plastic chairs in train terminals, I was ready for a real bed.

I was both enticed by the building and terrified by it. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. I hoped the feeling of dread would help me stay focused, but I wasn't so sure. Theo and Jocelyn, on the other hand, didn't look properly scared. I could tell that the place's magic was already working on them. I wasn't entirely sure why they were being affected more strongly than me. Perhaps because they'd never heard first-hand accounts of the place. I remembered my parent's grim expressions. I remembered the look of pain on Nico's face the only time I'd heard him recount his past.

I gulped. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah!" Theo said, excited.

"Come on, let's go!" cried Jocelyn, and she ran to the doors.

The interior of the place was amazing. There were games as far as the eye could see. A huge water slide twisted around the center of the room. Buffets were scattered throughout the main area with heaps of the most delicious looking and smelling food I'd ever seen or smelled. Perhaps the best part was that there weren't that many people walking around. That meant no lines for anything.

"Oh –" Theo said.

"My –" I added.

"Gods," Jocelyn finished.

"Hey!" a bellhop said, approaching us. He wore a Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip flops. For the first time in my life, the site of a Hawaiian print shirt didn't make me want to gag. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino," he continued. "Here's your room key. Don't worry; the bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go up to the top floor. Your room is 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range –"

"Skeet?" Jocelyn interrupted in an excited voice.

"– or whatever," the bellhop continued, "just call the front desk. And here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides." He handed each of us a green plastic card.

"Sweet," Jocelyn muttered, holding her card reverently in both hands. And it was sweet. I vaguely remembered being worried about something, but I decided that I'd worry about it after I'd rested up a bit.

"Enjoy your stay," the bellhop said, smiling at us. Then he walked off, probably to go help some of the other guests.

We hopped in the elevator and rode it all the way up to the top floor. Our room was incredible. It was a suite, with a balcony, three bedrooms and three bathrooms with everything you could possibly imagine. Hotline to room service? Check. Snack bar with all of my favorite candy? Check. TV? Ours was the size of a wall. The balcony overlooked the strip with the hot tub and the skeet shooter. Directly across the strip was another high rise casino. No way was it as nice as the one we were in.

I dropped my backpack and sword in the living room, and went into one of the bedrooms. The closet was stocked with clothes my size. I grabbed a set of clothes and hopped in the shower. After a few days on the road, the shower was divine. When I came out, I found that both of my friends had showered as well. Unsurprisingly, Jocelyn was out on the balcony shooting skeet. Theo sat inside, watching a movie.

"Come on, guys!" I said. I held up my Lotus Cash card. "It's game time!"

I did a little bit of everything. The games were incredible, the bungee jumping exhilarating, and the food was to die for. I was dashing over to try out the waterslide when something caught my eye. It was a poster. "See the world's greatest illusionist! The Incredible Houdini! Magic beyond your wildest dreams comes true in this exhilarating show! In the Auditorium Theatre right here in the beautiful Lotus Casino!"

My head pounded. Something nagged at the back of my mind. I was sure I'd heard that name before. Just then, Theo and Jocelyn ran up to me. They were dressed in their swim suits. My stomach swooped and my heart beat wildly at the sight of Theo shirtless. Why did that boy's abs have to be so perfect? "Come on," Jocelyn said, grabbing my hand. "Let's do the waterslide!"

I blinked slowly. Something was wrong. I vaguely remembered dreading… something, but having no choice but to do… something. I almost shrugged the feeling off. Surely I'd imagined that. Everything was perfect. But I glanced back at the poster, and the nagging feeling at the back of my mind came back. For some reason, this magic show was _important_. I didn't know why, but it was. "You guys go ahead," I said. "I wanna go see this magic show."

Theo shrugged. "Suit yourself." They ran off to do the waterslide. Meanwhile, I followed the signs to the theatre where the magic show would be held.

I sat down just as it started. The magician, Houdini, was a well-dressed, slightly roundish man with hair that curled at the ends. His assistant, a woman introduced as Hecate, was young, with blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail. Her eyes were dark.

The show was incredible. Houdini and his assistant performed some incredible tricks. I cheered and clapped with the rest of the audience, but the entire time the uncomfortable nagging feeling at the back of my head grew stronger and stronger. The final act of the show was an escape act. Houdini's assistant tied him up in a straight jacket, locked it with three heavy padlocks, then helped lower him into a wooden box. The lid of said box was then shut tight. Hecate made a show of locking three heavy locks onto the lid of the box. Finally, with the help of another assistant who came from off stage, she raised a black sheet in front of the box quickly, then immediately dropped it. Houdini was standing on top of the box, freed of the straight jacket. The box was still locked tight.

The crowd burst into a standing ovation, myself included. After a few moments, Houdini raised his hands for silence. Slowly, everyone stopped cheering and resumed their seats. "Thank you all for coming to the show tonight," Houdini said. "Normally this is where we'd end the show, but tonight we have one last treat for you all." Hecate pulled a large glass jar out of thin air. Inside were a bunch of scraps of paper. "Within this jar is the name of everyone in the audience," Houdini explained. "I will draw one out at random. If your name is called, you'll be invited to come up to the stage and have a chance to win a fabulous prize. How does that sound to everyone?"

The audience cheered. At the same time, my head throbbed. A voice somewhere inside my brain said, _Remember_. The voice was vaguely familiar, but I didn't know why.

Houdini was drawing a name. He held out the scrap of paper in front of him and called out jovially, "Elizabeth Jackson! You are our lucky contender! Come on up here!"

I started in surprise. The audience cheered once again. For a second I didn't move, but then I stood up and made my way up to the stage. When I got closer, I realized how pale both Houdini and his assistant were. They were pale as corpses. When the magician placed a friendly hand on my shoulder, I could feel how cold his skin was. And Hecate's eyes – they weren't just dark, they were pitch black. My head ached. I was missing something important. But what?

"So you are Elizabeth Jackson?"

"Yes," I said.

"I see. And how old are you, Miss Jackson?" Houdini asked.

I hesitated. "Thirteen."

"And when is your birthday?"

At this I really had to pause. I started to panic. _When was my birthday?_ I couldn't remember. The voice in my head seemed to scream _Remember!_ Finally, it came to me, and I let out a sigh of relief. "April. April nineteenth."

"Wonderful!" Houdini exclaimed. I didn't feel wonderful. I felt sick. There was something very wrong. _But what?_ "So, kid, here's the deal. You have a chance to win a fabulous prize from us. All you have to do is tell me how I did that last trick. If you can do that, then the contents of this envelope are yours." At that Hecate held a plain white envelope out. "You have five minutes starting now."

"Am I aloud to examine the box more closely?" I asked.

"Be my guest," Houdini said. There was an amused glint in his eyes and a knowing smirk on his face, like I'd never figure it out. I'd show him. I was going to solve this.

I walked around all four sides of the box, scrutinizing it. The locks of the lid were real. The walls of the box were solid wood, held together by screws. Except for the back side of the box, which was held in place by nails or those flat bolts. I couldn't tell which. But that was different. I bent down to examine them more closely. The nails were sticking out of the wood by about a millimeter. I got my fingernails into the little space and pulled. It wasn't a nail at all, but rather it was a loose pin. I pulled out both of them, and the back swung open on a well-oiled hinge. Houdini might have pushed them loose, then rolled out of the box.

Part one solved. Now how did he get out of the straight jacket? The straight jacket and its locks were on the interior floor of the box. I rifled through them. Yet again, the locks were real. The straight jacket was made of solid material and wasn't cut or ripped. Then, on the floor, I found a key. Had it been in the box the whole time? But that didn't feel right. I picked up the key, then immediately dropped it in disgust. It was wet and slimy. "Ah ha!" I said aloud.

"Time's up!" Houdini boomed. "What's your answer?"

I stood back up, wiping my hand off on my pants. The voice in my head said _Remember_ again, and I was definitely sure that I recognized it now. But I pushed the voice down. "The back of the box wasn't nailed in. It just had two loose pins that could've been pushed out from the interior. The bottom side of the back was on hinges. While Hecate and your other assistant raised the sheet in front, you could have rolled out of the box and quickly climbed on top just before they dropped the sheet."

"Impressive," Houdini admitted. "But you haven't told me how I got out of my straight jacket."

"I'm getting there," I assured him. "See, the locks on the front of the box took a while to do up. You had enough time to unlock the straight jacket with your key. The problem was, of course, obtaining a key, and using it without your hands. But see, I've heard of other performers swallowing things and then regurgitating them later. I propose that you swallowed a key for the straight jacket locks before the show and that you choked it back up, held the key in your teeth, and unlocked yourself. You had just enough time to do that while Hecate was putting the locks on the box."

"Incredible!" Houdini roared. "Isn't she incredible folks?!" The audience burst into another standing ovation, this time for me. I felt faintly embarrassed by the attention, but I was also quite pleased with myself. However, my head was pounding worse than ever, and the voice in my head was insisting that I remember more urgently than ever. But what was I supposed to remember?

"Hecate, give Elizabeth Jackson her prize," Houdini instructed his assistant.

Hecate handed me the envelope, and as soon as my fingertips touched the paper, I figured out why I recognized the voice in my head. It was _my_ voice. My world shattered and my head split open as memories came rushing back. I fell to my knees, clutching my head.

My headache cleared. I was Elizabeth Jackson. I was on a quest to prevent a war between the gods Hades and Demeter by finding Persephone before the summer solstice. And this place, the Lotus Casino, made you want to stay forever.

I looked around the theatre. It was empty now. No trace of there having been a show in here was left. Even Hecate and Houdini were gone, and I remembered them too. I had to complete three trials for Hecate, then she'd help us find Persephone, and I was pretty sure that I'd just beaten the second one.

The envelope that Hecate had given me had fallen to the floor when I'd dropped to my knees. I scooped it up. No doubt it had something to do with finding the next challenge for the annoying goddess of magic, but I didn't have time to examine it now. I folded it and stuffed it into my pocket. I had to find Theo and Jocelyn quick. Who knew how long we'd been in here.

I dashed back into the lobby/game area and began frantically searching for my friends. Finally, I found Jocelyn. She was playing a virtual reality shooter. "Jocelyn!" I shouted. Nothing. "Joce, come on!" Still nothing. I ripped off the headset.

"Holy Hera!" Jocelyn exclaimed, blinking, agitated. "What the hell Elizabeth?"

"Jocelyn, snap out of it," I said, clicking my fingers in her face. "We've gotta get out of here before it's too late!"

Jocelyn laughed. "Get out of here? Why in Zeus's name would we ever do that? This place is incredible!"

"The quest," I insisted. "Remember?"

Jocelyn waved me away and started to put the VR headset back on. Before she could, I slapped her hard across the face. Jocelyn staggered from the force of the blow. "Pluto's Pauldrons, Jackson!" Then her pupils dilated. "Whoa, wait. How long have we been here?" She was back.

 _Why did I get the joys of a painful headache and she didn't?_ I thought, annoyed, but I didn't say that. Instead, I said, "I don't know. I found Hecate and completed her challenge, though. We have to find Theo and get out of here."

"Right."

We ran off and eventually found him playing skee ball. "Theo," I said loudly. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Why would we do that?" he asked, turning back to his game.

"Can I slap him?" Jocelyn asked.

"No, I've got a different idea," I said. I needed to do something to shock him, and that would hopefully restore his memories. My heart thudded in my chest with what I was about to do. I'm pretty sure my heart cracked a rib. I'd been crushing on him since we met. Now it was time to do something about it. Before I could lose my nerve, I grabbed his face and kissed him full on the lips.

The kiss was very short. Theo leaped back, a look of horror on his face. "What the hell, Elizabeth?!" he exclaimed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

My heart cracked. "Was it that bad?"

"What?" he asked, genuinely perplexed. "Elizabeth, I'm gay."

" _What?_ "

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty obvious," he said. Clearly it was not obvious enough. "Wait a minute," Theo said slowly. "How long have we been here?" He was back, too.

My mouth, however, wouldn't operate. I was agitated, but not inherently because Theo was gay. That was fine. I was agitated with myself. I had gotten so enthralled with a boy, and now I was feeling so hard-broken that he didn't like be back (even though, as far as reasons go, his was a good one). It was so unlike me.

Jocelyn snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Can we discuss your heart shattering revelation later?" Jocelyn said urgently. "Have you completed Hecate's trial?"

I blinked. "Yes."

"Then let's get out of here," Jocelyn said. "The games are trying to call me back."

"Wait, what about our stuff?" Theo asked. "We left our bags in our room."

I cursed. He was right. I thought of the beautiful sword Poseidon had given me. But I also knew that if we went back upstairs to retrieve our things, we would get sucked back in. We'd lose ourselves again. "We'll have to leave our things," I said grimly. "Who knows, maybe it'll magically come back to us when we leave?"

We wouldn't find out whether that was the case, because as we walked to the front door, someone new entered the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Unfortunately, I recognized him. "Shit," I muttered. I grabbed my friends and dragged them behind one of the game machines. The looks on their faces told me they'd seen him, too.

"Di immortales!" Jocelyn cursed. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Probably after us," I reasoned. I growled in frustration. "If only we had our weapons!"

"So how are we getting out of her?" Jocelyn asked.

"I've got an idea," Theo put in. Both Jocelyn and I looked at him in surprise. "Yes, I get ideas, too," he added defensively.

I recovered first. "Okay, what's your idea?"

"I know it's risky, but we've gotta get back to the room," Theo said. "My escape plan depends on it."

Jocelyn shot me a dubious look. I swallowed hard. I really didn't like the idea of risking losing ourselves again. On the other hand, there was no way to get out without our weapons. Dr. Thorn was still standing in the doorway. Whatever Theo's plan was, as long as it involved getting our weapons back, it was our best shot.

I looked at Theo very seriously. "Lead the way."

* * *

 **Okay that's it. BTW, the little Roman quest was not just a throwaway detail. It will come back, but not for a long time yet. Anyway, I'll see you on Tuesday!**


	14. Chapter 14: We Are Tired of Trains

**AN: Hey guys! As always, thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. It really means the world to me. Also, I was happy to see that the news about Theo being gay got such a reaction. Glad I could surprise you all, haha.**

 **There were a quite few questions last time, so I shall endeavour to answer them.  
Firstly from FireStormQueen, who actually asked several questions, but I have the same answer for all of them.  
Q) "** **Does this also mean that Gus has a crush on Elizabeth? if so, what will happen to the fact that [Sierra] and Matt like each other? also, is the "[heir] of time" related to Chronos in any way?"  
A) Spoilers. Haha, sorry can't give away any of those answers. All of those questions will be answered with time, though not necessarily in the Stolen Goddess. You'll have to wait for sequels for some of them.**

 **Next from Scoricon.  
Q) "Did you Pre write this whole story already?"  
A) Warning: long answer. Sort of. For me, I produce my highest quality writing through a process of several steps. Step one is getting the idea. Step two is outlining the idea. Step three is a hand written rough draft. Step four is typed-up draft. Step five is editing, then posting the chapter. Between each step, there are often changes. There are entire sequences, for instance, that did not get written up in my hand-written draft. When I first began publishing the story on here, I was several chapters ahead in my hand-written draft, but not done. I have hand-written drafts for the remainder of the chapters now. Usually, I do the typed-up drafts the weekend before I post (so, for instance, I will write next week's chapters on Saturday and Sunday). Then, during the week, I edit. I do this even when I write one-shots. It's a long process, but I find that, for me at least, it helps me refine my thought processes and produce higher quality material.**

 **Finally, two questions from N.  
Q) "Are you planning a sequel series like H.O.O?"  
A) Possibly. I have inklings of ideas for one, at any rate, but unless I think I have a compelling story to tell I won't. I don't want to write a sequel series just for the sake of doing so. But yes, I am toying around with the idea.  
Q) "Are you writing any other stories?"  
A) Currently, I do have several one-shots published, one of which features an earlier version of Elizabeth (the narration style is pretty different). I actually have drafts several one-shots, but I haven't found the time to type them up yet. I also have several other ideas that I am planning out, including a series of short-ish multichapter fics taking place shortly after BOO. However, most of my attention is currently on this Elizabeth Jackson series. I have already begun serious work on the sequel, and I hope to start publishing the 2nd book within a couple of weeks of finishing this one. But more on that later.**

 **Whew. Okay, I think that's it for now. Enjoy the chapter, everyone! DFTBA!**

Chapter 14: We Are Tired of Trains

I flopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV. "Man, those games wore me out," I said.

"Did you try the water slide?" Jocelyn asked, sitting down next to me.

"No," I said, frowning. I had been planning to. Why hadn't I? "Should I give it a try tomorrow?"

"Oh, definitely," Theo said. "The water slide is incredible."

The Lotus was probably the greatest place on Earth. I could've stayed forever. I probably would have, too, had our wall not exploded. I mean that. The wall that had our room's door to the hallway literally burst apart. Wood, stone, plaster, and insolation flew everywhere. The sofa flipped, and we ended up sprawled on the floor. Standing in the gaping hole formerly known as our wall was our old acquaintance Dr. Thorn in full Manticore form. He was so big that his back pressed against the ceiling.

"Bonjour," he snarled.

I remembered myself again real fast. "Theo, your plan!"

"Right!" he yelped. "Distract him!" He scooped up his bag and ran for the balcony.

I was vaguely aware of alarms going off, but the Lotus security was not my primary concern. Thorn swiped at me with one of his paws. I reached for something to defend myself. My fingers closed around the strap of my backpack and I swung it with all my force. I batted his paw aside, but as I did so, my sword went flying from its sheath and careening across the room. _Great,_ I thought, _Stays in just fine when being tossed aboard a moving train, but_ now _it flies free_.

Meanwhile, Thorn was firing off spikes at Jocelyn. She rolled and dipped, but his aim was good. He almost got her, but at the last second, Jocelyn grabbed her backpack and held it up as a shield. The spike punched a hole through it, but Jocelyn was fine. She swung the bag onto her back and pulled out her revolver.

I batted away another paw swipe of Thorn's, then dove across the room and scooped up Marianas. I spun around and slammed my thumb onto the trident button. I braced the butt against the floor just as one of Thorn's paws came at me in a downward swipe. He impaled his paw on my trident. It didn't dissolve him, but he did recoil and roar in pain.

"You shall pay for that," he spat.

I responded by blasting him with my trident, which hurt him about as bad as a bee sting might. Gun shots sounded as Jocelyn unloaded two rounds into Thorn's side. Thorn stumbled sideways away from her. He slammed into one of the bedroom walls, which collapsed under his weight. Even as he fell, he fired off two spikes at Jocelyn. I leaped in front of her and twirled Marianas, knocking the projectiles out of the air.

There was the sound of unfamiliar voices shouting. I saw hotel security guards pick their way into the trashed room. Thorn stood and flattened them with a swipe of his tail. Simultaneously, he bore down on Jocelyn and I. I switched back to sword mode and cut across his uninjured paw. Jocelyn fired off two more rounds.

Another spike was flying at Jocelyn from her left. I cut across her and deflected it on the flat of my blade. There was a whooshing sound and a crack. Thorn roared out in pain as Jocelyn's whip cut a diagonal gash across his face.

"Guys!" Theo called from the balcony. "I'm set! Come on!"

We dashed for the open balcony doors, Thorn right behind us. Jocelyn spun around in the doorway and cracked her whip, trying to keep Thorn at bay. Theo was standing on the balcony's stone railing. There was a wire above his head. One of his hands was holding what looked like one of his arrows. The wire seemed to go straight through it. Theo's free hand shot out and grabbed my left bicep.

"Grab Joce!" he yelled, and I understood what was about to happen. I sheathed my sword and tightened my backpack straps for good measure.

Jocelyn had fully backed out onto the balcony, using her whip to keep Thorn at bay. She must have fired off her remaining rounds without my noticing, because she'd holstered her gun. She was surprisingly dexterous with the whip, knocking spikes out of the air with insane accuracy. I could barely reach her by fully extending my right arm, but I wasn't strong enough to hold onto her like that. She had to get closer.

"What are you waiting for?" Theo screamed.

Jocelyn backed up another couple of feet and she was close enough. I wrapped my arm around her waist and yelled, "GO!"

Theo leaped off the edge of the balcony, dragging us along with him. For an awful moment, we got caught on the railing, but then Jocelyn planted her feet right on Thorn's face and kicked off. Poor guy. His face just couldn't catch a break. We tumbled over the railing.

The arm Theo was holding wrenched painfully. The wind blew past us at an alarming rate. I couldn't tell where we were going as we zip-lined across the strip because I was facing the wrong way: back towards the Lotus. Thorn had transformed back into human form and was glaring at us coldly. The sun hung low in the horizon, but I was too disoriented to tell whether it was sunset or sunrise. Of course, depending on the date, I supposed it didn't matter.

All of this flew through my mind in about a second. That's when Theo yelled, "Hold on!"

I was about to ask him what we were supposed to hold onto when he let go of my arm. I had a moment of complete terror. His hand must have slipped. Now, Jocelyn and I were dead. Then we smashed through a window and tumbled across a floor. I heard a woman scream and a man yell some choice expletives.

I was dazed, but somehow I took in my surroundings. Jocelyn and I were sprawled in a heap, tangled together on the floor. Theo was about a foot behind us, also sprawled on the floor. We were surrounded by a halo of broken glass. I felt prickles of pain all over my arms, legs, face, and neck.

The room we were in was dark. I noticed clothes strewn about the floor, and I vaguely wondered whether one of our backpacks had split open and spilled out our belongings. Then my eyes happened upon a pair of lingerie. My gaze shot up to a bed. A man and a woman were sitting bolt upright in it, frozen in shock. The woman had pulled the sheet up to their chests, but I could tell they were both stark naked. It was their clothes on the floor.

My face burned. I was sure that my face could've given Rudolph's nose a run for its money. I managed to disentangle myself from Jocelyn and clambered to my feet. "Sorry about that," I said lamely to the couple. I hauled my friends to their feet. My left shoulder screamed in protest. I was pretty sure I was dealing with another dislocated shoulder. Great.

Even in the low light of the room, I could tell that my friends' faces were burning as brightly as mine. We practically sprinted for the door, wrenched it open, and emerged out into a brightly lit hallway. On the door handle of the room we'd just exited was a tag that said, "Do not disturb." Oops.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here," Jocelyn snapped, "before they get over their shock and call security." We dashed for the elevator at the end of the hall and once inside pounded the ground floor button.

* * *

It turned out that the hotel room we'd burst into was part of the famous Caesar's Palace casino. And the room was the honeymoon suite. Double oops. We had a _very_ close miss with casino security. We sprinted away from Caesar's Palace for several blocks until finally we dove into an alley to catch our breath and assess our situation.

I was gripping my left shoulder with my right hand. It hurt like hell and looked all wrong. Definitely dislocated. All of us had cuts of varying severity all over from smashing through the window. Our clothes were peppered with small holes where the glass had cut into them. Luckily, most of our things were intact. Not so lucky was Jocelyn's backpack, which had been damaged by Thorn's spike worse than I had initially realized. She'd lost a few of her things. Luckily, since the bag had been pressed up against my chest during our zip-lining, most of her things were still with us. Unluckily, not with us any longer was her portion of our cash.

Jocelyn pulled a roll of duct tape from her bag and began taping it back together.

"You brought duct tape?" I asked.

"Never know when you'll need it," Jocelyn replied.

"So how much money _do_ we have left?" Theo asked. He had pulled out his first aid kit. He pulled out a packet and bent it in his hands. It made a crackling sound. To me he said, "Move your hand." I did so. He reset my shoulder and I yelped in pain. "Hold this against it," he instructed, handing me the packet. It was cold to the touch. A portable ice pack, I realized. I pressed it against my injured shoulder.

"I don't know," Jocelyn said in response to Theo's question about money. "Depends on how much money you and Lizzie have between you."

" _LIZZIE?!_ "

Jocelyn smirked. "Looks like I found the nickname that gets most under your skin. Excellent. Now I've got leverage. Anyway," she said, returning to the important matter at hand, "it hardly matters how much money we have if we're too late."

"I don't think we are," I said thoughtfully, still seething a little bit at the use of Lizzie. "I'm pretty sure things would look a lot worse if the war had started." Theo was folding a triangular piece of cloth around my left arm, making a temporary sling. "Is this entirely necessary?" I added to him.

"For a few hours, yes," he insisted. "And everyone should eat a square of ambrosia. Doctor's orders." He handed a piece of the godly food to each of us. I hesitated for a second, then ate it. A hot feeling spread through me as my cuts and bruises mended. I heard a buzzing sound in my ears.

After we'd all swallowed, Jocelyn spoke up. "I think you're right, but I have no clue what the date is. My phone battery is dead, and I'd guess both of yours are, too. But whatever day it is, it's still morning. Look at the sun. It's in the East, and still pretty low to the horizon."

"Okay," Theo said, "let's go find some place with outlets. We can charge our phones and plan our next move. Plus, I'm starved."

Jocelyn and I agreed, and a few minutes later we were sitting in a Starbucks. We discovered how much money we had left: about twenty five dollars. We only had ten after buying coffees and pastries for us. It was more expensive than it should have been, but then I remembered the food shortages that Demeter was causing.

We sat down with our coffees and pastries. While Jocelyn waited for her phone to get enough charge to boot up, I told them about the magic show: how Hecate had pretended to be Houdini's assistant, getting called up to the stage, and about figuring out the trick.

"So you beat Hecate's test," Theo said. "Did she let you know where to go next?" So far, Theo was treating me pretty normally, but I still felt a little awkward. I was supremely embarrassed about kissing him and making a fool of myself. And as much as I hated to admit it, I was a little bit heart broken, too.

"My memory is still a little fuzzy," I answered. "I don't think she _said_ something about where we needed to go but… there was something. Argh! That place really screwed with my head."

"Aha!" Jocelyn exclaimed. "It's starting up!" Theo and I tensed up, watching Jocelyn watch her phone as it booted back up. We'd decided against asking someone the date, because we figured it would look fishy.

Jocelyn's face went pale as she looked at the phone screen. I swallowed hard. "What is it? What's the date?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's 6:30 AM, June twentieth."

"The solstice is tomorrow?" I cried out in alarm. "But we don't even know where Persephone is!"

"Not to mention one more challenge for Hecate," Theo said glumly.

"And we don't even know where to go for that!" I snapped. "Hecate didn't even tell me. All I got was that stupid envelope!" Realization struck me, and I gasped. I shoved my hand into my pants pocket and pulled out the crumpled envelope. I ripped it open. Inside were three train tickets, and a slip of paper with an address. "I've got it! But we've got to hurry." I held up the train tickets. "The train leaves soon."

Jocelyn moaned. "Train again?"

"Where are we going?" Theo asked, standing up and shouldering his backpack.

"Seattle, Washington," I informed him. "Now come on, we've got a train to catch."

* * *

The train trip to Seattle would take about twenty hours, which meant we'd reach Seattle just after 2 AM, Pacific Standard Time. Factoring in time differences, that would be about 5 AM in New York City: dawn on the summer solstice. All three of us knew that we should be sleeping as much as we could on the train. We were cutting it so close, it was likely we wouldn't be sleeping again until the quest ended one way or another. But that was precisely the reason none of us could sleep. We were all too on-edge to sit still for five seconds, much less sleep. We bounced our legs up and down, walked up and down the length of the train, incessantly checked our social media; anything to stay occupied.

Making matters worse, we were starting to get hungry again, but because of our lack of funds, we couldn't afford any of the ridiculously overpriced food on the train. Finally, around four in the afternoon, Jocelyn decided she'd had enough. "I'm gonna go get a literal shit ton of food for us."

"We don't have enough money," I pointed out miserably, flexing my left arm. I'd just taken the sling off. The shoulder felt much better, but was a little stiff still.

"Who said I'd be paying for it?" she replied, the Hermes glint in her eyes.

I was about to protest, but my stomach growled loudly and the protest never left my lips. Jocelyn smirked, then bounded off down the train to "liberate" us some food. It was the first time I'd been alone with Theo since the Lotus. He was sitting in the window seat, his forehead resting against the glass. He tapped his fingers on his knee in an intricate pattern, restless.

"Hey Theo?"

"Hmm," he said, still looking out the window.

"I'm uh… sorry about… you know, kissing you."

Theo didn't answer right away. I felt dread settle into my gut. I was afraid he wasn't going to say anything at all. Finally, he tore his eyes away from the window and looked at me. "It's alright. I'm sorry I assumed you knew I was gay."

"I'm sorry I assumed you were straight."

"Okay, we've got to stop apologizing," Theo said. "This is getting ridiculous." I laughed, and the feeling of dread left me. "It's just," he continued, "I've been out for a while. I don't necessarily think to tell people I meet anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for instance, do you go up to people and say, 'Hey, I'm Elizabeth Jackson, and I'm straight'?" When he put it that way, it did seem kind of silly to broadcast it like that. "You being straight is just a part of who you are. It's the same with me being gay. Being gay is just a part of who I am; it's not my defining characteristic."

"Yeah," I said, "your defining characteristic is your thick-headedness."

Theo stuck out his tongue. "I was going to say my rugged good looks. But you know, when I first came out, it was basically all I talked about. I kept bringing it up for a whole damn month."

"Gods, that must have been annoying," I teased.

Theo laughed. "Yeah. I remember one time, Jocelyn told me that if I didn't shut up about it, she'd punch me so hard I'd wake up straight."

"How'd you respond to that?"

Theo grinned mischievously, a look on his face that I usually associated with Jocelyn. "I told her that was a scientific impossibility."

"Did she punch you?"

"Oh yeah," Theo said. We both chuckled for a few minutes. "But anyway," Theo said, getting serious again, "I was almost positive that you knew anyway. You didn't seem all that surprised when I told you that my mom kicked me out."

"Wait," I said, holding up my hands. "Your mom kicked you out because you're _gay_?"

"Yeah, why did you think she'd kicked me out?"

"I thought it had something to do with being a demigod," I said.

Theo snorted. "No, my mom is about the most mortal person that ever lived. If the Mist completely dissolved right now, she still wouldn't believe in Greek gods or monsters, or any of that. She never knew that dad was a god. No, she just disapproves of me being gay."

"That's stupid!" I exclaimed. "We live in the twenty-first century!"

Theo shrugged. "That didn't change her mind." He looked really uncomfortable, fearful even. "See, mom is one of those ultra-conservative Christian fundamentalists. I… I had my first crush on a boy when I was ten. Mom… she… she tried to beat the gay out of me. You… you asked a few days ago what I saw in the Underworld. What my worst fear was. That was it: my mom."

I felt like the world had stopped spinning. Anger at the woman who called herself Theo's mother reared up inside me. "That's awful! How did she catch Apollo's attention?! And, by the way, convenient of her to consider you being gay a sin, but be totally okay with sleeping with a man outside of marriage."

"Yeah," Theo said bitterly. "That's some of what Martin said, too. As to how she caught my father's attention, well, she _is_ beautiful, and she's an incredible singer. That's actually part of the reason that I don't like to sing on my own. People always told me that my singing voice sounded like hers. But yeah, after a year of beating me, when I was still gay, she kicked me out of the house. Martin was going to leave, stay with me and all, but I insisted he stay behind. He had to finish school and go to college. He has big dreams for the future. I didn't want to take that away from him."

I sat in stunned silence listening to his story. I couldn't believe that people like Theo's mother still existed in the world. It made me sick to my stomach. "How'd you get to Camp?"

"A satyr named Tyler Underwood found me," he said.

I started at the familiar name. Tyler was Uncle Grover's son. "I know him! I didn't know that he brought you to Camp."

Theo nodded. "Yeah, he's a really brave satyr. After he brought me back, he went back out on assignment. He lives for being a protector. But when he comes to Camp he always makes sure to come say hi to me."

"You're really strong, you know," I said. "I don't mean physically. I mean, you are. But it's more than that. You went through something terrible, something no one should have to go through. And you're… okay. You didn't let it ruin your life."

Theo gave me a small smile. "Thanks," he said. "But it's the same thing as me being gay. I don't let my experience with my mother define me." It struck me that Theo, while being a bit dense at times, was very mature for our age.

Just then, Jocelyn came back, ending our heart-to-heart. She brought with her an entire food cart of food. And no, I don't mean a food cart's _worth_ of food. No, Jocelyn had actually stolen an entire metal cart of food. My mouth dropped open. "How did you… never mind. I probably don't want to know."

Jocelyn beamed. "Now you're getting it Jackson." She tossed me a sandwich. "Now help me unload this thing. I've gotta get this cart back before the staff notices it's missing."

A few minutes later, as we sat there working our way through our mountain of food, I came to a realization. I had thought I'd known Jocelyn and Theo before I left on this quest, but we hadn't actually been all that close. I was a selfish friend. I had not taken the time to properly get to know them. I resolved to be a better friend moving forward.

Of course, first we had a quest to finish. We were fast approaching the solstice, and there were still so many unanswered questions. I really hoped that we were doing the right thing by meeting Hecate in Seattle, because it was too late to change now.

* * *

We arrived in the Seattle train station at 2 AM on the dot. None of us had slept a wink on the train. I could feel the exhaustion eating away at the edges of my consciousness, but at the same time, I was completely wired. It was officially the summer solstice now.

We departed onto the street, and I pulled out the slip of paper with the address on it. Jocelyn put the address into her phone. "Looks like a public library. Probably closed this time of night, but I suppose that doesn't really matter to a goddess."

"How far do we have to walk?" I asked.

"About a mile, not too far," Jocelyn assured me.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Theo asked.

We walked through the city. In some ways, it was like New York. Cars still streamed by, even though it was the middle of the night, night clubs bumped with music, public transit operated a brisk business. But there were also differences. Seattle wasn't as tall, it wasn't as flat, and it was more spread out.

Finally, we arrived at the address in question. A figure was waiting for us. She stood between two tall reed torches. Her dress was sleeveless and black, just like her eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. Her skin was pale as a corpse. "Greetings heroes," Hecate said. "You made it. And not a moment too soon."

Cars kept driving by as if nothing unusual was happening. Part of me wondered if strange ladies with torches standing around in the middle of the night were common in Seattle. But then, Hecate was the goddess of magic and the Mist. It was more likely that mortals just didn't see anything.

"Lady Hecate," I greeted.

"Elizabeth Jackson, Jocelyn Clement, and Theo Solaris, you have done well to come here," she responded.

My eye twitched in annoyance. "Yeah, can we skip the formalities? In case you didn't notice, it's officially the solstice now."

Hecate raised an eyebrow. "Very well then. You have only one last trial to complete."

"So what do we have to do?" Theo asked.

"You do not have to do anything, Theo Solaris," Hecate said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

But the answer clicked into place in my head. "The trials weren't for all of us. They were for just me. In both previous situations, I only found the trial after getting separated from you guys. In Niagara Falls, the challenge was in a place that only I could reach. You guys couldn't have gotten safely to the bottom of the falls. In the Lotus, I was the only one that felt the call to go to that magic show. She's testing _me_. But why?"

"It is _your_ quest, Elizabeth Jackson," she said. "The prophecy is yours. You will need your friends in order to succeed, but you are the leader of this quest. You had to prove yourself, not your friends."

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. I felt bad that Hecate was basically saying my friends weren't as important as me. But they smiled encouragingly at me. I turned back to Hecate. "So… what would you have me do?"

"I have placed a possession of mine in this library," she said. "A book titled _On the Mist_. You must enter the library, find the book, and make it out."

"So what's the twist?" Jocelyn asked. "I doubt Elizabeth will be able to just get in and out."

"That is correct," Hecate said. "But it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."

I sighed. I pulled off my backpack and unstrapped my sword from the back. I belted it around my waist and said, "How do I get in? The library looks sort of closed."

Hecate raised an eyebrow. "And that is going to stop you?"

I sighed. "I suppose not." And I bounded towards the library, ready to get the stupid test over with.

* * *

 **See you guys next time when Elizabeth takes on Hecate's last test!**


	15. Chapter 15: I Complete Hecate's Trials

**AN: Hello everyone! I know I say thank you all the time, but I truly do mean it. I love the support that I've been getting. It means so much to me. So thank you so much.**

 **Question time! First, FireStormQueen:  
Q) "** **Also, are you planning to create a sequel or a series to continue Elizabeth's life as a demigod? If so, do you know if there will be a major battle/war at the end (like in both of rick's series)?"  
A) This is similar to a question I got before. But yes, I am planning a five book Elizabeth Jackson series. I have a definite plan on where I am going with it, but I'm not revealing any details right now. **

**Next N:  
Q) "are you a girl and i hope you dont mind me asking how old are you"  
A) Sorry, but I really do not wish to give any personal details on here. Sorry about that.**

 **Okay, that's it from me. Now here's Elizabeth! DFTBA!**

Chapter 15: I Complete Hecate's Stupid Trials

I landed cat-like on the library floor, having climbed in through an unlocked first floor window. No alarms were going off, but it was entirely possible that the library had those silent alarms that instantly alerted the police. I hoped not. Or, at least, that Hecate had magicked the alarms off. I'd been lucky when it came to the police so far, and I wanted it to stay that way (even if the convenient blind-eye by the authorities did not bode entirely well).

The window I'd climbed through was positioned between two tall bookshelves, going all the way up to the ceiling, and practically overflowing with books. I walked forward, resting a hand on Marianas's hilt, just in case. I came to the end of the book shelves, and found myself standing in the massive lobby.

Three floors up, a dome of glass showed the night sky. The ambient light of the city lit the area. Balconies ringed the circumference of the center section, and I could see massive bookshelves on each of those floors too. In the center of the area I was standing in was a long mahogany table with banks of computers. No doubt, those were the terminals one used to look up a book's location.

I rubbed my temples. How was I supposed to find one book in such a massive collection? "Well," I muttered, my voice echoing deafeningly, "gotta start somewhere." I strode towards the computers, my sneakers loud on the floor. It booted up quickly, and didn't even require a password. I knew it was a long shot, but I typed in _On the Mist_. Sure enough, nothing came up. I sighed.

"Alright then. So, how do I find that book?" I looked around up at the top floor. "When all else fails, start at the top, I suppose."

And so that's what I did. I strode to the elevator and hit the up button. I rode it all the way up to the third floor. When I emerged onto the third floor landing, I looked around at the massive collection of books. This floor was home to nonfiction. I strolled around, up and down aisles looking for anything out of place. The only light was the faint orange light of the city coming in through the skylight. The patter of rain reached my ears.

I sighed in frustration. "How in the name of Poseidon's sweaty underpants am I supposed to find this damned book?!" I exclaimed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed, for the first time, a flicker of orange light. I hadn't noticed it before because of the orange glow of the city, but I was closer to the source now, I supposed. Either that or the flicker of light simply hadn't been there before. I moved towards the new source of light.

I rounded a corner, and found a tall reed torch standing in the middle of a row of bookshelves. "Well that's definitely a fire hazard," I muttered. I moved down the row, looking at each book in turn, trying to spot one titled _On the Mist_. Finally, I came across a book's spine that didn't belong. The writing on it was not in English. Gingerly, I pulled it from the shelf.

Besides the writing being in Ancient Greek, there was nothing exceedingly special about this book. It was a simple black volume with golden lettering. The gears in my head turned slowly, my choppy Ancient Greek skills struggling to decipher the words. Finally, I confirmed my suspicions. It was the book I was looking for.

The torch sputtered out, and I spun around. There was no one there. The torch seemed to have gone out in response to finding the book. It looked like I was just going to be able to walk away with it. But that couldn't be right. As Jocelyn had pointed out, there had to be a catch.

I cradled the book under my left arm and drew my sword in my right. Slowly and carefully, I made my way back to the elevator. The rain storm was really picking up now. The water pounding on the skylight sounded less like rain drops than small pebbles. I slammed urgently on the down button. The elevator doors dinged open, and I hopped in. Next, I slammed the first floor button.

When the door dinged open on the first floor, the rain storm outside had become a maelstrom. I strode quickly across the open entry area. I was halfway to my open window, when a familiar voice spoke from behind me. "Hey there, Elizabeth."

I was so surprised that I almost dropped the book. I whirled around. Standing only twenty feet from me was a boy I recognized well. He stood two inches shorter than me. His blonde hair was messy, his sea-green eyes laughed from their sockets. The sight of him made my heart ache for home. Somehow, my brother was here in Seattle.

"Matt?" I gasped, my voice seemingly unwilling to work properly.

My brother laughed. "Well, who else, big sis?"

"What… what are you doing here?" I asked. "You're supposed to be at Grandma Sally's house."

Matt shrugged. "You're supposed to be at Camp." All the time, my brain had been running at high gear, trying to process what I was seeing. It just wasn't possible. There was no way Matt could be with me in Seattle. So why did my eyes insist that he was?

My eyes weren't completely fooled, though. One major thing about Matt's appearance was completely wrong: a real Imperial gold gladius hung at his side. Matt didn't have a real sword.

"I'm on a quest," I said warily. "What's your excuse for not being where you're supposed to be?"

Matt smiled at me, spreading his hands. "It's an interesting story, sis. I'd love to tell you about it. Why don't you set down that book and put away your sword so we can talk properly?"

I did no such thing. I raised the sword, levelling the point at Matt's chest. "Who are you _really_?"

Matt raised his eyebrows. "Nothing gets past you, does it?" He laughed, and a spike of anger surged through me. How dare this imposter laugh my brother's laugh?

"Answer the question or I swear to all the gods –"

"Oh, keep your pants on," fake Matt said. "I'll tell you who I am. The answer… isn't an easy one to understand. I feel like Matthew Jackson, but I know that I am not truly he. I am… a memory, I suppose you'd say?"

"A memory?"

"Your memory of your brother," he elaborated. "I was created from your memories of Matthew Jackson by the Lady Hecate. I am your last trial, you see."

My grip on Marianas tightened. "But… if you're a memory, how are you solid?"

Fake Matt rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Elizabeth. You're supposed to be smarter than me. Hecate is goddess of magic. Of course she'd have ways of making me a more solid form. Now, I have answered your question. I have one for you. See, if you want to leave here with that book, you have to defeat me. Even if you manage that, which you have managed on only rare occasions, do you have it in you to destroy me? Do you have it in you to allow me, your brother, to die?"

"But you aren't my brother," I protested. "You're a fake."

"I'm a pretty good fake," Matt said idly. "I have all of Matt's memories, or at least the ones he shared with you. I remember having picnics in Central Park with you, I remember all of our little sparring matches, I remember getting you that new skateboard you wanted for Christmas, I remember fighting with you over the last piece of bacon –"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, completely losing my temper. "YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER!"

"You love your brother very much," the imposter observed. "I'm afraid that that will make what is about to happen harder for you. Shame, Hecate really hoped to see you succeed." He drew his sword and charged.

* * *

If I hadn't been so thrown off, I might have had the presence of mind to blast him with my trident before he even got to me. As it was, I was in so much shock and so angry, that I simply charged to meet him. The sound of our swords colliding echoed ominously through the library.

Real or not, my opponent had all of the talent of my real brother. He swung a sideways swipe at me. I parried just in time, but already his blade was switching direction, coming at me in a downwards strike. I fell back, step by step. Matt pushed his advantage, launching a barrage of attacks at me that I was hard pressed to defend against. I kept hoping against hope that he'd leave an opening, but no such luck. This fake Matt had none of the overconfident sloppiness my real brother had.

Anger exploded in me again. This was not how my quest was going to end.

Matt stabbed at me, and I sidestepped, bringing my sword down in an arc and forcing his blade down towards the floor. I knew my reflexes were no match for his. I couldn't get my sword around to a good position to strike him before he could do the same. But if this Matt really was based off of my memories, then he always played by the rules, and punching was not, strictly speaking, in the rules of sword fighting.

I swung my left hand around, still gripping the spell book, and decked him in the face. Matt stumbled backwards, raising his sword. I knocked the blade aside with Marianas and planted a kick square in his chest. Matt fell to the floor, sputtering. I brought my sword arcing down on him.

But I had hesitated for a millisecond. In my head, I knew he wasn't really my brother, but he was so like my brother. The hesitation, however brief, was just enough. Matt rolled aside just in time. My sword clanged against the floor. Matt was swiping at me with his gladius. No way could I reposition to block the strike in time. Unless…

I thumbed the trident button. The blade end, being against the floor, did not elongate. All of the extra length, then, extended from the pommel. Matt's gladius slammed into the shaft of my trident. I twisted back, and the butt of the trident rotated over Matt's blade and slammed him in the head. He fell back dazed, and I pressed my advantage. I switched back to sword mode in an instant and launched a volley of strikes at him. I had gained the upper hand, but I didn't know how long I could keep it.

I pushed him back between two book shelves and had my opening. He had swung at me blindly, still stumbling from the slam on the head. I almost stabbed him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was just too much like Matt. Instead, I swung my sword in a wide arc, slashing apart the bookcases, and causing Matt to become buried in a waterfall of books.

I turned on my heel and sprinted across the big hall. I leaped through the window I'd left open and rolled to my feet. The rain was coming down so hard now that I was almost instantly soaked to the bone. I sprinted around the corner of the building, to the front where Hecate was waiting. If I could return the book, then maybe I could stop fighting fake Matt…

There they were, standing ten yards from the front doors. The rain didn't seem to be falling on them. Theo and Jocelyn saw me coming and let out a cheer. Hecate just stared at me impassively. I was almost there… Only five feet from my friends now…

I slammed into the invisible force field and fell flat on my butt. "What the hell? I completed your challenge!" I yelled at Hecate, brandishing the book.

"No you have not," Hecate said, and she pointed at the front doors of the library.

The doors burst open, and Matt strode out, looking quite annoyed. He had a piece of paper stuck to his foot, which might have been funny under different circumstances. Right now, however, the look on his face frightened me. My brother had never looked at me like that before.

Then it finally clicked in my head. My block was gone. No matter how like my brother this thing was, it wasn't him. Matt would never try to do me real harm, and he certainly wouldn't look at me with such loathing on his face.

"Well that was obnoxious," he said. "You should've killed me when you had the chance, Elizabeth. At least you had a shot in a sword fight. But we both know that my powers have always outdone yours."

"What are you on about? What water is there for you to – oh."

The rain storm. Matt yelled, and the rain was all redirected towards him. It was coming down so thickly, that in no time, he was surrounded by a rotating wall of water. He roared, and the water came at me in a pressurized jet. There was nothing for it; I dropped Hecate's spell book on the ground and switched Marianas to trident mode. I gripped it in both hands, and pointed it at the jet of water. The jet broke apart around me, and then the water began swirling around me. My stomach lurched painfully. Rainwater was even trickier to control, and it didn't help that my fake brother was trying to wrest control back from me. But I maintained it. I bent the rain to my will, and now the storm was swirling around me.

"How is that possible?" Matt shouted incredulously. "I was always better than you!"

"Well here's the thing, _brother dear_ ," I answered acidly, "Grandpa Poseidon gave me this nice weapon here that heightens my powers. Against the real you, no doubt I wouldn't stand a chance. But you're _not_ my real brother. You are an imposter. You are no grandchild of Poseidon. But I am. The water obeys _me_ , not you." Matt looked at me frightfully. His image was distorted by the water swirling around me at high speed. "I wonder what will happen to you when I destroy you. Nothing pleasant, I'd assume, from that look on your face."

Matt snarled at me, raised his sword, and charged. I yelled and thrust my trident forward. The water obeyed. It roared as if sharing my anger – at this imposter, at Hecate, at this whole stupid quest – and the water slammed into Matt. It hit him with such force that he was blasted right up against the wall of the library. He fell to his knees. The gladius had clattered to the ground. I levelled the points of the trident at him, and I poured my anger and adrenaline into the blast. It was the most powerful blast of energy I'd yet fired from my trident. It was less of a bolt and more of a beam of blue green energy. It slammed into fake Matt. He screamed, and as he did so, his body dissolved into Mist. Soon the scream was nothing more than an echo. The Mist swirled for a moment, then streamed into the book I'd dropped at my feet.

Marianas fell from my hands and when it clattered to the ground, it was in sword form. I collapsed to my knees. There was a great ringing in my ears, as if an explosion had gone off nearby. I shut my eyes against the throbbing of my headache. The rain was still falling thick as ever, and I was glad for it, because the water streaming down my face hid my tears. I wasn't sure if I was angry or sad. That had not been the real Matt, but it still hurt terribly to hear him scream like that. It reminded me of the vision I'd seen of my parents in the Underworld.

I felt hands shaking me. Theo and Jocelyn were asking if I was okay. But I couldn't hear them. The ringing in my ears was deafening. And then, cutting through the ringing, came the voice of Hecate, "Well done, Elizabeth Jackson."

A brand new balloon of anger expanded in my chest. I leaped to my feet, my eyes snapped open, and I whirled around to face Hecate. At some point, I must have grabbed my sword, because now I was pointing Marianas at the goddess. "What do you think you're playing at?" I cried. "You send me and my friends on a wild goose chase across the country, and for what? To bring us before you on the day of the solstice so that we'd only have hours to complete our quest? To force me to kill the image of my brother? And how dare you give him control over water! Do you _even_ want Persephone to be found?"

Theo and Jocelyn were staring at me in alarm. Hecate's face remained impassive. "Your anger is understandable," she said calmly, but there was a note of steel in her voice she'd not used with me before. "But hold your tongue."

But my anger was still surging through me. "Then answer my questions," I spat. "There are only hours until Demeter and Hades lose their patience and go to war. Why did you send me on this ridiculous journey across the country?"

"I do not give out help freely," Hecate responded. "I have already explained that to you. But there are other reasons as well. Whoever has managed to kidnap Persephone – and believe me when I say that I know not who that is – is undoubtedly powerful. When you first came to me, all three of you were still green. If I had told you right away where Persephone is, you would have gone to your deaths. Whether you choose to believe it or not, these trials have made you stronger, in both mind and body."

"So you've known where Persephone is this whole time?"

Jocelyn shot me a warning look. "Elizabeth, why don't you shut up and let Theo and I do the talking from here." Her voice was surprisingly harsh. Instantly, my anger ebbed away. What had I been thinking? I could have gotten all of us incinerated. _But you weren't thinking_ , a small voice said in my head. _You were letting your emotions run away with you._

"Lady Hecate," Theo said respectfully, "would you please elaborate on what you have just said. Where is the goddess Persephone?"

"I have known where she is from the moment the news leaked out," Hecate said, and I noticed she wasn't directly answering the question. I bit my tongue before I could say something stupid. "I would have gone directly to retrieve her, but there was an issue. Whoever has taken her has invoked some ancient magic that prevents gods from entering the area. In fact, had I not had special spells of my own, I could not have discovered her location at all."

"So let me get this straight," Jocelyn said. "Whoever is hiding Persephone has magic that prevents gods from going to that area? How is that even possible? And if gods can't get in, why would we be able to?"

"There are many ways of doing so," Hecate said. "I will say this, any spell meant for gods is often unable to catch lesser beings, and spells meant for lesser beings are too weak to affect gods. As neither fully mortal or fully god, you heroes are uniquely able to cross magical boundaries. I do not know exactly what spells have been employed this time. Perhaps you can discover the truth when you get there."

"Yeah, you haven't exactly told us where 'there' is yet," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Hecate regarded me with her pitch black eyes. I couldn't read any expression in those eyes. "Mexico City."

My jaw dropped open. "How are we supposed to get there in time?" I asked, panic building inside me. "You really _do_ want us to fail!"

"I do not," Hecate said harshly, for the first time losing the calm quality of her voice. "Calm yourself, Elizabeth Jackson. There is always a way."

"Can you teleport us there, Lady Hecate?" Theo asked.

Hecate shook her head. "No, I cannot. The magical wards around the city prevent me from sending you directly there. However, the answer lies in New Orleans."

"So we've got to get to New Orleans, and then to Mexico City?" I asked incredulously. "There's no way we can do all that in time!"

Hecate raised an eyebrow. "Did you not hear what I just said? There is always a way." Hecate snapped her fingers, and the world dissolved into darkness.

* * *

 **See you all on Tuesday. We're very close to the end now!**


	16. Chapter 16: We Get a Ride From a Friend

**AN: Hi all! Thanks again, everyone, as always! We are getting very _very_ close to the end, so that's exciting! Sorry that this is later in the evening than usual. I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be up on Thursday rather than Friday because of family stuff this weekend, jsyk.**

 **We have some questions from FireStormQueen, so as always I will endeavor to answer them.  
Q) "I** **s the form of teleportation that Hecate used similar to the one that Hera used on Jason, Leo and Piper in The Lost Hero?"  
A) Along the same vein, yeah. I feel like that's just something gods can do.**

 **Q) "Where did you come up with the idea for the illusion of Elizabeth's brother to be her third challenge?"  
A) It just came to me one evening when I was thinking about the story. To be honest, I hadn't planned on doing that originally, but I didn't like the original plan that I'd had. When I came up with that idea I liked it a lot better.**

 **Q) "What was the significance of the Romans that the trio saw in the last chapter?"  
A) Spoilers. Sorry about that. You'll have to wait a while. Like not in book 1 a while.**

 **Anyway, that's it from me. On with the show. DFTBA!**

Chapter 16: We Get a Ride from a Family Friend

Just as suddenly as the darkness had descended around us, it lifted, and I could see again. The area that my friends and I were now in was a darkened alley between two low buildings. The air was hotter and more humid than it had been, and the rain was gone. Wherever we were, it was quiet, even though the sun was beginning to rise. I assumed that we were in New Orleans. Unlike New York, it seemed, people actually slept in New Orleans.

"Why's the sun rising?" Theo asked. "Wasn't it like 3:00 AM just a second ago?"

"Time zones," I said. "We're in New Orleans now, I think, so we're a couple hours ahead of where we were Seattle."

"What in Zeus's name was that back there?" Jocelyn interrupted angrily. "You could have gotten all three of us incinerated!"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry," I said bashfully. "I've got a bit of a temper."

"No shit Sherlock," Jocelyn muttered.

I felt color rise to my cheeks. I opened my mouth to respond, but Theo interjected, "Guys, calm down. We're a team, remember? We've all done our fair share of stupid things on this quest. What matters is that we're all alive, and that we've still got a job to do. We only have a few hours at most. We can't fall apart now."

I looked at Jocelyn. "I'm sorry I almost got all of us killed by losing my temper at Hecate."

Jocelyn sighed. "Yeah, well, I can hardly blame you. She _was_ being supremely annoying."

I smiled at her, and overcome by a surge of affection for my friend, I wrapped her in a hug. "Okay, easy there," she said, awkwardly patting my back. "Don't be getting all sappy on me now."

I pulled back. "Sorry about that," I muttered.

"So what's our next step?" Theo asked.

My stomach growled loudly. "Food is our next step. I know we don't have a lot of time left, be we've got to get in a last meal. Besides, I've got some ideas about what's next that we should talk about."

"Works for me," Jocelyn said with a shrug. "Let's plan for the apocalypse over some breakfast!"

* * *

Because of our low funds, we decided that our best option for breakfast would be the Golden Arches of the nearest McDonalds. The particular McDonalds we found ourselves in that morning was directly across from a large cemetery with rolling green hills. I had an absurd image of zombies arising from the grave and coming in to order Happy Meals. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind.

We sat at a window table eating the food we'd managed to buy with the last scraps of our cash. Even at McDonalds, ten dollars didn't go very far. Nevertheless, we were all exhausted and needed food and caffeine, even if it was just a little bit of both. We knew we wouldn't be eating or sleeping again unless we succeeded and we needed as much energy as we could get.

"I could steal us some more money," Jocelyn commented quietly as we took seats by the windows.

"No," I said firmly. "This will be enough."

Jocelyn raised her hands in surrender. Theo looked thoughtfully at his breakfast sandwich. "So," he asked, "What ideas do you have, Elizabeth? Any clue how we're supposed to get from here to Mexico City?"

I frowned. "No, unfortunately." I cursed. "Hecate hasn't exactly made this whole thing easy."

"It's possible that she doesn't want us to succeed," Jocelyn said. "I mean, why else would she be obstructing us so much? We've had to leap through hoops inside of hoops to get this far, all because of her. Maybe she has something to do with Persephone's disappearance."

I had been thinking the same thing, and the thought made my stomach boil. "You may very well be right. I imagine we'll find out one way or the other soon enough."

"I don't think it was her," Theo put in. "I mean yeah, she didn't make things easy for us, but she was right. We're a lot stronger and a lot better team than we were when we left Camp. I think she was trying to help us in her own way."

I made a noncommittal noise, unconvinced. "As I said, we'll probably find out soon. But anyway, I had thoughts about where Persephone is."

"But we know that," Theo pointed out. "Mexico City."

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Theo, don't be so dense. Mexico City is the largest city in North America. It's a huge place, both in area and population. We could search the city all day and not find her. We need something more specific."

"Right," I said. I remembered the lines from the prophecy of gods that were gone, I remembered my chat with the Niagara River, I remembered talking to Athena about Native American gods. I was pretty sure I knew where we had to go in Mexico City. "See, before Europeans came over, Mexico City was the capital of the Aztec Empire. Obviously, that's not what it was called at the time. And the Aztecs had a very complex religion, involving gods and monsters and heroes, but when the Spanish conquistadores came over, they virtually wiped the Aztec out."

"And Athena said that some of the Native American gods were real!" Jocelyn exclaimed, catching on. "Which means…"

"That the forever gone gods in the prophecy could be the Aztec gods," I finished.

Theo grinned, catching on. "So Persephone is probably in an old Aztec temple! Are there any left standing?"

"Already checking," Jocelyn said, withdrawing her phone. We waited in tense silence. I prayed to all the gods that there was still one, and, more importantly, that I was actually right. "Yes!" Jocelyn exclaimed. "There's a big one that's still standing! It's a huge tourist attraction!"

I cheered. "Excellent! One problem down!"

"You're a genius, Elizabeth," Theo said earnestly.

"I'd be more of a genius if I knew how to get us there," I commented, sourly. My mood had quickly changed upon realizing that even if I was right about where to go, it did us no good whatsoever if we couldn't get to Mexico City.

My friends frowned as well. We ate in silence for a few moments, contemplating our dilemma. I gazed out the window, thinking. There _had_ to be a way. I hadn't come so far just to fail here, after so long and so much work. At that moment, a motorcycle pulled up to the curb across the street. The man riding it was thin, but well built regardless. Despite the heat, he wore a black leather jacket, tall black boots, and ripped black jeans. There was something familiar about him. Then he pulled off his helmet, shaking loose his shaggy black hair. He glanced towards the McDonalds briefly, then turned to enter the cemetery.

I gasped and jumped to my feet. "I found our ride, guys! Grab your things, and come on!"

We dashed across the street, hoisting our backpacks, and shoving the last of the food down our throats. We ran into the cemetery, trying to find the man that I'd seen pull up on the motorcycle. It didn't take us too long. He was standing beneath a large poplar tree talking to another man. The other man was taller and broader, with dark skin and buzzed hair. Around his neck he wore a necklace with some kind of weird amulet.

We slowed up as we approached. They were talking in very serious voices. Neither had noticed us. Reacting in a split second, I pulled my friends down behind a big gravestone. Curiously, I listened in. "– and they don't know where to go," the dark skinned man was saying. "You've got to talk sense into your father."

"You don't think I've been trying, Walt?" the biker said irritably. His familiar voice confirmed to me that it was, indeed, who I thought it was. "He's been insulted too many times. This is the final straw."

"Well, we can only do so much on our end," the man apparently named Walt complained. "If they don't follow the old ways, we can't help them."

The biker made to talk again, then stopped. "Hold. Someone is nearby, listening to us."

I decided that it was probably a good time to announce our presence before the men decided to attack or flee. I stood up, smiling. "Hey Nico," I said brightly.

Nico di Angelo's eyebrows shot up quickly and several emotions flashed across his face in rapid succession and settled firmly on surprise. He managed to force a smile, though. "Elizabeth! Good to see you!"

The man named Walt raised an eyebrow as my friends and I moved closer. "You know these kids?" he asked.

"Just the one," Nico said frowning. "Elizabeth, how much did you hear?"

"Not much," I said truthfully. And at any rate, what I had heard, I hadn't really understood. "And these are my friends, Theo and Jocelyn. Guys, this is Nico di Angelo."

Nico nodded to my friends, then turned to his. "I think this is probably important, Walt." He turned back to me. "You're on a quest, I assume?" I nodded. "Okay, Walt, can I meet you back here later?" He and Walt shared a meaningful look.

Walt sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. Send me a text when you're on your way. I hope that this helps with our dilemma." He nodded to my friends and I, then walked away.

Nico took a deep breath. "Now tell me, Elizabeth, truthfully, what did you hear us saying?"

"Nothing, I swear," I said, holding up my hands. "Well, nothing that I really understood anyway. I think you were talking about your dad, but I have no clue what he meant about his side."

"Nor should you," Nico said quickly.

"It has something to do with the spirits of the dead doesn't it?" Jocelyn asked. "With the war coming up and all. That's it right?"

Nico nodded slowly. "Yes."

"So who was that guy?" I asked. "Another son of Hades?"

"Let's just say he's another expert on death, and leave it at that," Nico said shortly.

I didn't particularly want to leave it at that, but the look on his face told me that more questioning was not going to get me any further. "Okay, well, you were right. We are on a quest."

"To save Persephone?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jocelyn said. "And Elizabeth figured out where she is. She seems to think you can get us there."

Nico stroked his chin. "I probably can. Tell me everything, and quickly. You may not have much time."

So we told him; about Hecate, about the quest, and about my suspicion about where Persephone was being held captive. The entire time he gazed at me thoughtfully, though I got the distinct impression that he wasn't so much looking at me as in my general direction. When we finished telling him the whole story he nodded. "I certainly can help. We can shadow travel instantly to Mexico City. But be warned. Whoever has kidnapped Persephone must be very powerful –"

"Like we didn't know that," Jocelyn muttered.

"– and I don't mean to be rude," he continued, "but you three look worse for the wear. I know that it is your quest, but will you please allow me to accompany you to the Aztec temple?"

I glanced at my friends. He was right. We were worse for the wear. Our clothes were frayed at the edges and still peppered with holes from crashing through the window in Vegas. Deep purple bags were under my friends' eyes, and I knew I had matching bags under my own. We were in no shape for any kind of major fight. On the other hand, it _was_ our quest, and it felt wrong to accept more help than was necessary. Then again, maybe Nico's undoubtedly extensive experience _was_ necessary. "We need all the help we can get," I said at last.

Nico grinned for real this time. "Then hold tight. We're off to Mexico." He held out an arm to my friends and I. We grabbed on, and then melted into shadow.

* * *

I immediately knew that something was wrong when we emerged from the shadow travel. Instead of the middle of an old Aztec temple, we came out in the middle of a busy street. It was even earlier in the morning here than it had been in New Orleans. People bustled past, chattering with each other in Spanish. Cars honked at each other on the road. Mexico City kind of reminded me of New York, except even louder and slightly dirtier (but only slightly). Oh yeah, and all the signs and chatter was in Spanish.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't an ancient Aztec temple," Jocelyn said dryly.

Nico grunted. I looked at him. He was turning a sickly shade of green like he was about to… "Stand back!" I exclaimed, leaping away from Nico.

Theo and Jocelyn followed my lead, and just in time. Nico puked, splattering the cement with partially digested food. "Pluto's Pauldrons!" he gasped. We grabbed him by the arms and dragged him to the wall of a nearby building. He leaned against it for a second, then slid down and sat hard on the pavement. He gripped his head in both hands.

Theo jumped into action, pulling out his first aid kit. "Are you okay? What doesn't feel good?"

"You remind me of my husband, Will," Nico grumbled. "You don't happen to be a son of Apollo, do you?"

"Yeah," Theo said, somewhat defensively.

Nico chuckled. "Of course you are. Listen, I'm fine. I know what's wrong with me."

"What is it?" I asked, kneeling next to the son of Hades.

"It was the Shadow Travel," he explained. "There was some kind of force shielding the temple from magical means of entrance. We bounced off. It took every ounce of my power to keep us from dissolving into shadow forever."

I felt all the color drain from my face. If that was true, that was too close for comfort. Nico tried to stand back up, but he fell back to the ground. "Whoa there," I said. "You need rest."

"I need to help," he grunted.

I looked at my friends. We were tired, and obviously something or someone would be waiting for us at the temple. I wasn't sure we had a chance on our own. But I also knew that in this condition, Nico would only get himself hurt. The looks on my friends' faces told me that they were thinking the same thing.

"Look, we appreciate it," Jocelyn said. "But you're in no condition to fight right now. You'd just get yourself killed."

"Yeah," Theo agreed, "we can handle whatever's coming up."

"Besides," I pointed out, "we'll need a quick ride back to New York so that we can take Persephone to Olympus. We need you to rest up so that you can take us back with shadow travel."

Nico sighed. I could tell that he was frustrated with his inability to do more than sit there. Finally, though, he nodded. "I suppose this is the moment. This is when your generation of heroes takes the reins." He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he said. "Good luck. May the gods be with you."

We nodded. Then I had another thought. "Can you watch our bags?"

"Of course."

"Okay guys, let's travel light," I said. "We need to make good time."

I dropped my backpack on the ground next to Nico and readjusted my sword on my waist, where it had been since Seattle. It felt good on my waist, and as no one had given the sword so much as a second glace, I decided to keep my sword on my waist from that point forward. Jocelyn strapped her revolver and whip to her waist as well. Theo had simply transformed his bag back to bow and quiver form. For the first time since we'd left Half-Blood Hill, I felt that we actually looked the part of heroes.

"We'll be back," I promised Nico. Then my friends and I dashed off.

* * *

However, we soon ran into a problem: we had no idea how to get where we were going. None of our phones had coverage in Mexico, so we couldn't use Google maps. The sun was rising in the sky at a rate that I felt was entirely too fast. Theo and I were complaining loudly. "You'd think these would work anywhere in the world," I grumbled. "I'll have to have words with Uncle Leo."

"What do we do?" Theo asked. "Wander around randomly until we find it?"

"We don't have time for that," I protested.

"Guys!" Jocelyn interrupted. "I've been trying to tell you that I got this, but you two were too busy belly aching. Watch and learn." Then she turned away from us and called to a random passerby, "Buenos dias!"

"Buenos dias!" the passerby said, stopping and smiling.

There followed a conversation in rapid fire Spanish that went way over my head. I knew a few simple phrases that Uncle Leo had taught me, but nothing like that. I looked at Theo, who was just as surprised as me. Finally, Jocelyn said, "Gracias, Señor!"

"De nada," the man said. "Adios!"

"Adios!" Jocelyn responded amiably.

The man walked off. Jocelyn turned back to us. I blinked. "You speak Spanish."

"Yep," Jocelyn said with a smirk. "I'm also fluent in French, German, Greek, both modern and ancient, Hebrew, Arabic, and Mandarin."

Both Theo and I stared at her, our mouths hanging open. "You speak eight languages?" Theo managed.

"Nine counting English," Jocelyn said simply.

"How come I never knew this till now?" Theo asked incredulously.

Jocelyn shrugged. "Never really came up at Camp. But it's a Hermes power. Some of us have the gift of tongues. Our dad is the god of messengers, so naturally he knows every single language. Because of that, some of us have a predisposition for learning languages." I shook my head, bewildered. "Anyway," Jocelyn continued, "I got us directions. Come on, follow me."

Sure enough, Jocelyn's directions proved accurate. We found ourselves standing outside a stone complex at the center of which was a huge stone step pyramid. The whole complex had been turned into a historical site, with tours available, but a sign at the entrance informed us that the place was "closed for renovations."

Something felt wrong, besides the fact that the structure was absolutely silent. If renovations were really going on, then there should have been noise. But that wasn't what was bothering me; I had already resigned myself to the fact that we were walking into a trap. No, what was bothering me was completely different. I had a tingle on the back of my neck. I had the distinct feeling that I was definitely _not_ supposed to enter the temple.

I looked at my friends. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they had gotten the same sense of dread, too. "Well guys," I said, "this is it."

"Yep," Jocelyn said.

"Are we sure Persephone is in there?" Theo asked. "Maybe we ought to check a couple of nice cafes first?"

Neither Jocelyn nor I replied.

I stepped forward and lifted the rope that was supposed to be deterring people from walking in. With one last nervous look at each other, my friends and I entered the complex.

We picked our way through the broken apart walls of the complex. The pyramid ahead filled me with more and more unease as we approached. Still, there was no noise and no one attacked us. The sun blazed overhead. I knew I was going to end up with a nasty sunburn, but that wasn't exactly my top concern at the moment.

"Awfully quiet," Jocelyn commented.

"Let's not push our luck," I said. "That's almost as bad as saying 'What could possibly go wrong?'" _Note to self: never say what could possibly go wrong, even if you don't mean it._

Figures leaped out from behind stone walls and suddenly we were surrounded. The strangest thing was, they weren't monsters like I had imagined they'd be. They were people. Twenty teens and young adults in assorted Greek and Roman armor pointing celestial bronze spears at us. Were they rouge demigods? My head spun. This couldn't be right.

My friends had already whipped out their weapons and were aiming at our enemies. But there were too many. These weren't monsters. These guys probably wouldn't go down in one hit.

A man strode forward. He wasn't wearing armor. Instead, he wore fancy robes. A red cape was hung over his shoulders. He was built like a scarecrow, thick brown hair cut in a wedge. His eyes were black, and glittered with cruel intelligence. He looked about twenty-five. Even though he had no weapon, he was obviously in charge of this group of soldiers.

"I'd suggest you tell your friends to stand down," he commented in an unusually high voice.

I didn't like taking orders from this guy, but on the other hand I didn't want my friends to die. "Stand down," I growled.

Reluctantly, my friends lowered their weapons.

The leader of the group smiled cruelly at me. "Smart girl. Must be your Athena. Good of you to come. The boss knew you would. He's always right, after all. Now, if you'll please come with us, our boss would like a word with you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Not much of a choice," I said dryly, observing the spears pointed at us. "Fine, take us to your leader."

* * *

 **And that's it! See you guys next time! Oh, also, I'm not sure if there is actually still a standing Aztec temple in Mexico City, but it really was the capital of the Aztec Empire. Anyway, see you next time.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Villain Explains

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm sorry this is a couple days late! I had everything ready on Friday, but the place that my family went did not have easy wifi access, so I was unable to upload :( Anyway, I'm back home now, and am finally uploading the next chapter. We're really close to the end now, and I'll explain how all that is going to go down at the bottom. As always, I want to thank all of you, readers, favoriters, followers, and most especially reviewers. I am so pleased that others have enjoyed my idea.**

 **Question time! But before that, I would like to thank FireStormQueen for informing me that, yes, there is still an Aztec temple in Mexico City. So thanks for that! FireStormQueen also had some questions, so here we go.  
Q) "i** **s the army of rogue Demigods in the last chapter supposed to be similar to chronos' army on the Princess Andromeda?"  
A) Eh... kind of? Spoilers. Sorry bout that.**

 **Q) "isn't Walt the Host of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead?"  
A) God of funerals, but yes. Walt is the Host of Anubis from the Kane Chronicles series.**

 **Q) "how do Walt and Nico know each other? And how did they meet?" and also (because they're interrelated answers) " is the Nico and Walt knowing each other similar to Percy meeting Carter in The Staff of Seripis?"  
A) This is sort of a headcanon I have. Hopefully I will, someday, write a one-shot exploring it in more detail. But in short, Nico and Will met because both of them, being death experts, went to investigate some unruly spirits at the same time. Since then, they've kept in contact with each other, helping sort out any overlap between Hades's and Osiris's realms (as both are gods of the dead). It is because of this helpful relationship that they met in the last chapter. With Hades slowing down death, Nico was trying to get the Egyptians to help pick up the slack. However, this won't have any major effect on this series. I just like throwing in little easter eggs.**

 **Okay that's it for now. Enjoy the chapter! DFTBA!**

Chapter 17: The Villain Explains His Evil Plan

The red caped man led the way. His soldiers kept their spears trained on us as we walked closer and closer to the pyramid in the center. They didn't confiscate our weapons, which, rather than encouraging me, made me even more nervous. Clearly they did not see us as a real threat. And I could see why. As we passed more broken walls, we saw more soldiers carrying spears. How could there possibly be so many rouge demigods? It didn't seem right.

We entered the pyramid, and still the red caped man led us onwards. It was dark inside, lit by torches bracketed to the walls. Finally, we made it to a set of huge stone doors guarded by two giants with reddish skin covered in tattoos. "Laistrygonians?" I wondered aloud. "What are they doing this far south?"

The red caped man turned back towards me and smiled dryly. "Our leader commands legions of monsters, including laistrygonians. If he orders them this far south, they obey."

The laistrygonians grunted, showing their displeasure with the heat, but still obeyed when red cape told them to open the stone doors. We were pushed into a large room, the ceiling lost in darkness overhead. This room, too, was lit by a multitude of torches. The laistrygonians pulled shut the doors behind us. Ahead there was a platform like a stage where three figures awaited us. On the left was Persephone. She was floating upright in midair, eyes closed, her head lolled against her chest. Bands of dark energy encircled her.

To the right was Dr. Thorn. He looked smug. His suit had been newly pressed it seemed, and his hair trimmed. However, I was pleased to see a diagonal red welt across his face where Jocelyn had struck him with her whip.

It was the figure in the middle, however, that made me gasp in surprise. "It's – it's you!" I stammered.

The man in the middle stepped forward slightly. He wore white pants and a white shirt, sandals on his feet. If it hadn't been the white cape trimmed in gold, he could've passed for a college student. However, his clothes weren't the reason I recognized him. His sandy hair was trimmed meticulously. A smirk played across his lips, and his eyes were golden. It was the man from my dream.

"You recognize me?" he inquired, his voice arrogant. He sort of reminded me of Alex de Marco.

"I had a dream about you," I said coolly. "You killed Ms. Castellan."

"You dreamed about that?" he asked, amused it seemed. "I wouldn't get so held up on it. That was five years ago."

"Sir," the red caped man prompted.

"Ah, yes, please excuse me," Ms. Castellan's murderer said. "Sometimes I go off on tangents. Thank you Marcus, that will be all," he added to the red caped man. The man I now knew as Marcus bowed his head, and left the room. His soldiers stayed, but they backed away from us, taking positions throughout the room.

The man continued. "Welcome, heroes, I believe proper introductions are in order. You have, of course, met Dr. Thorn. This lovely lady beside me is the goddess Persephone. And I, I am Gaius."

"Gaius?" Jocelyn asked. "That's a dumb name."

Gaius shrugged. "I'm afraid I must disagree with you there, Jocelyn Clement. You know, Gaius was Julius Caesar's first name. Romans had three names, you see. Caesar's first was Gaius. But sorry, I am off on another tangent. I, of course, know you. Jocelyn Clement, daughter of Hermes, Theodore Solaris, son of Apollo, and most importantly, Elizabeth Jackson."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked hotly. "And who even _are_ you? Are you the Heir to Time?"

Gaius laughed, and the sound sent shivers down my spine. "Heir to Time, you say? Yes, that is accurate, I suppose, but I would not be so presumptuous to use such a title. Gaius is perfectly fine." He clapped his hands together. "So, now that we have introductions out of the way, let's get down to business." I noticed that he hadn't answered my question about why I was the most important.

Gaius flicked his hand, and Persephone began to rotate like a dessert platter at a truck stop. "You have come for Persephone, and I must say that I am quite glad that you made it."

"You're _glad?"_ Theo asked. "But why? Aren't we a threat to your plan, whatever it is?"

Gaius laughed again. "My dear boy, you three were my plan. Or rather, Elizabeth was. The other two of you are ultimately of little consequence to me. But I wanted to see if Elizabeth would pass this first test."

A cold feeling spread through my limbs. "My suspicions were right," I said quietly. "We've been too lucky."

"What in Zeus's name are you talking about?" Jocelyn said. "We've almost died like… a bajillion times!"

"Yes," I agreed. "Almost. But we didn't. In fact, none of our actions had any major consequences. The police weren't after us, no major injuries… we didn't even lose many of our things. On top of all that, we managed to make it here just in time." I looked Gaius in his weird golden eyes. "He was manipulating the quest the whole time."

"Well done!" Gaius said. "I am so happy to have a descendent of Athena as my adversary. You actually know how to think things through!"

"Hecate was in on it?"

Gaius waved his hand dismissively. "Of course she wasn't. She may have been obnoxious and obstructive to you, but she was trying to help in her own way. Gods often try to help in roundabout ways. Anyway, I knew that you were likely to go to Hecate for help on this quest, and I planned accordingly."

"But how did you learn all this?" Jocelyn asked.

"There are more ways to glimpse the future than your Oracle back at Camp, or the book fragments the Romans rely on," Gaius said simply.

"But why do all this?" I asked. "Why did you want to start a war between Hades and Demeter?"

Gaius sighed. "Keep up, Elizabeth. I told you that I wanted to test you. A war between Hades and Demeter would make little difference to me. True, such a war would aid in my plan to eventually destroy the gods, but should war not occur between the two, it does me no harm. My ultimate plan will still proceed."

"Destroy the gods?"

"Yes, quite," Gaius said casually, as if he was talking about the weather. "No, the reason I took Persephone had little to do with Hades and Demeter. See, as I have said, I have my own way to learn about fate. I knew that should I kidnap Persephone, you would be the one to come and retrieve her."

"So you kidnapped a goddess just to get me to come here?" I asked, flabbergasted. "You're insane!"

"I am _not_ insane," Gaius said calmly, but forcefully. "You see Elizabeth, I had to ensure you were worthy. So, knowing that if I took Persephone you would come to find her, I kidnapped the goddess, occasionally sending Dr. Thorn to add some extra challenge. But if you could not make it here, then clearly you are not worthy."

"Worthy for _what_?"

"To be my opponent," Gaius explained, which explained almost nothing. "You see, Elizabeth, there will come a day in the relatively near future, where you and I will fight. It is destined. I wanted to ensure you were a worthy opponent.

"Of course, even for me and my… associates… kidnapping a goddess was no easy feat," Gaius went on. "Keeping her was even more difficult. But we struck upon the solution. This place, you see, was an ancient Aztec temple. Did you know that the Aztec gods were real once?"

"We worked that part out," I said. "After the Europeans came over, the various North American pantheons were destroyed by the Greco-Roman gods."

"Exactly," Gaius said, smiling. My insides squirmed with anger, but I stayed stock still. Talking was better than having him order his men to attack. And at least we were getting some answers, but none of them were pleasant. "At the time the Spanish arrived in this region," Gaius went on, "they were the predominant power of the West. When they conquered the Aztecs, their gods conquered the Aztec gods, who then faded away into nothingness."

"But what does that have to do with now?" Theo asked.

"I'm glad you asked that," Gaius said. "This is one of my favorite bits. See, gods cannot pass into the domains of other pantheons without consequences. This temple still contains residual power from the Aztec gods. It would not normally be enough to incapacitate a living goddess; there just wouldn't be enough power left. But with the proper spells, that residual power could be amplified. Two of my associates found the proper spells and strengthened this temple's wards. The result floats next to me." Persephone continued to rotate slowly next to him.

"So that's why the other gods couldn't find her, why they can't come here to get her out, and why Nico couldn't Shadow Travel us in?" I clarified.

Gaius nodded. "Precisely. All forms of Greco-Roman magic, including magical travel, are blocked by the newly strengthened wards of this temple. Only an exceptionally powerful spell could locate Persephone, which is why I knew you'd go to Hecate. And in order for you to enter this space at all, you would have to walk in, which you have most graciously done."

"So you went to all that work just to test me?" I asked. "You sure you're not insane?"

Anger flashed across Gaius's face, but he managed to reign it in. "I am quite sane," he said quietly. He cleared his throat and returned to his casually arrogant personality. "You have passed many trials to make it here, as it should be. But now it is time for your final exam. If you pass, then I will let you take Persephone and leave here peacefully, I swear on the River Styx."

I gritted my teeth. "Fine. What's our final exam?"

"A duel to the death," Gaius said, "with Dr. Thorn."

Thorn's smug expression slipped, and he looked at his master, his face white. Clearly he had not been told this part of the plan. "But sir, you told me that if I did as you asked, if I was successful, you would make me a general in your armies."

"I did say that," Gaius agreed. "And I am asking you to fight these three heroes. If you are victorious, then I shall fulfill my promise, and you shall be a general. If you really want the position, I would suggest that you don't die." Dr. Thorn gulped, then sneered at us like _You'd better not mess this up for me._

Gaius returned his attention to me and my friends. "So, Elizabeth Jackson, what do you say? Will you and your friends fight Dr. Thorn?"

I looked at Jocelyn and Theo. It was true that we were exhausted, ragged from our long quest, and it was true that we'd never yet beaten Thorn (only escaped at the last second) but we were also stronger. Far stronger than we'd been since leaving Camp. They both nodded at me seriously. I didn't like playing along with Gaius, but I also didn't see that we had much of a choice. I turned back to Gaius. "You have a deal."

* * *

Thorn leaped off the stage, transforming as he flew through the air into Manticore form. He landed on the stone floor and roared at us. "You will not take this from me! I fought for Kronos so that I could at last have glory, but I was denied! I shall not be denied again!"

Thorn launched volleys of spikes at us with deadly accuracy. I just barely managed to knock them aside with my sword. "Scatter!" I yelled to my friends. Jocelyn and Theo dove in opposite directions, but I stayed in front of Thorn. He sprung at me, his clawed hands outstretched. It was all I could do to block his swiping talons.

Meanwhile, his tail attacked with a mind of its own. Spikes shot towards Theo and Jocelyn, who'd been trying to flank him from behind. Jocelyn dove to the side, spikes missing her by inches. Theo intercepted the spikes heading towards him with arrows. Both sets of projectiles obliterated each other.

I leaped backwards away from the swiping paws and somehow did a backflip (which I'd never done before). I only had about a half second to breathe before Thorn pounced at me again. I pulled a move that I had at the casino, and switched to trident mode, bracing the butt on the ground. Thorn impaled one of his paws again, just like he had last time. He flinched, roaring in pain.

Somewhere to the right, there was a loud bang and Thorn roared again. He spun on Jocelyn, who'd shot him in the side. I took the opportunity to run at him, but his tail swung around and slammed into me. I sailed across the room and cracked my head against the wall. The soldiers watching the fight laughed at me, but it was drowned out by the ringing in my ears.

My vision was a blur. In a haze I saw Theo firing volleys of arrows at Thorn, but spikes intercepted them all. Jocelyn stood in front of Thorn, keeping his lashing paws at bay with cracks of her whip, but he was advancing, and Jocelyn was steadily falling back. Thorn was just too much for us. There was no way that we could win, at least with brute force. We needed a clever plan, but my head was still fuzzy from slamming into the stone wall. I was pretty sure that I had a concussion.

Nevertheless, I managed to stagger to my feet. I almost fell back down, but I flung out a hand and braced myself against the wall. I had to get back in the fight, but I could barely stay on my feet. I watched as Thorn managed to get a spike at Theo before he could re-notch an arrow. The spike slammed into his shoulder, and Theo cried out in pain. He was sent spinning and landed in a head. Instantly, the tail whipped around and flicked a spike at Jocelyn. Before she had time to react, the spike impaled her right thigh. I mean, the spike actually drove its way all the way through her leg.

I yelled in anger and defiance, and a fresh rush of adrenaline temporarily blocked out my pain. I charged at the monster. As I ran, I switched Marianas back to sword form. I got in close. Thorn tried to shoot spikes at me, but I kept right up in his face, where the spikes couldn't get me. Before long, Thorn's paws were crisscrossed in cuts that bled golden blood, but he still didn't burst into powder.

"Just die already!" I grunted.

"I am not returning to Tartarus," he growled in response.

Suddenly, five arrows embedded themselves in Thorn's side. Without either of us noticing, Theo had gotten back to his feet. I used the moment of distraction to make a stab at Thorn's face, but he flung out one of his massive paws and sent my flying. Again. I landed next to Jocelyn.

Her face was contorted in pain. Her right pant leg was stained red with blood, and sweat glistened on her face. "Things aren't going too well," she observed dryly.

"I noticed," I replied.

Thorn's tail wrapped around Theo like a boa constrictor and threw him across the room. He landed next to us with a grunt. Thorn spun on us, victory in his eyes. The soldiers watching jeered and cheered, but Gaius stood on the stage observing silently. I got the feeling that he wanted me to win. _Well he shouldn't have used a Manticore if he wanted that_ , I thought angrily.

"This is my great victory, heroes," Thorn gloated. "At last I will cement myself as a monster truly worth fearing! For centuries, I was banished to the East. I never got to fight any of the great heroes of legend. But now is my chance at last! My obscurity will end, and all shall fear me!"

Now that he thought he'd won, Thorn seemed in no particular hurry to kill us. His spiny tail was tensed in firing position, trained on us, but spikes did not fly. Still, trying to attack him would definitely prompt a spike to the head for each of us. We needed to get rid of that tail. We needed a plan. _But what?_ And then the idea came to me.

As Thorn continued to gloat, I whispered my plan to Theo and Jocelyn. Theo nodded determinedly. "As long as I don't have to stand up," Jocelyn whispered back, indicating the spike stuck through her right thigh.

Thorn had finished gloating. "Any last words, demigods?"

I prickled. "I'm not a demigod. I'm a _legacy_. And yes, I do have one last word: Now!"

Theo fired an arrow at Thorn. As expected, Thorn shot a spike to intercept the arrow. What he didn't know was that Theo had not fired a normal arrow. Theo had fired an explosive arrow. When the spike hit the arrow, it exploded. I threw up my arm to shield myself from the blast. Thorn was closer to the blast than my friends and I; he went skidding backwards, roaring in pain and surprise. Just like at Niagara Falls, he flailed his tail around to balance his weight.

Phase two of the plan began. Jocelyn snapped out her whip. The end coiled around Thorn's tail. She pulled, and the Manticore yelped. He was still off-balance, otherwise Jocelyn's move wouldn't have done anything. As it was, the tail got pulled to its full length, a gap exposed in the scorpion exoskeleton. I was on my feet in an instant. I swung Marianas in a deadly arc and lopped off the end of Thorn's tail.

The howl of pain from Thorn was deafening. I had hoped that a strike like that would be fatal, that Thorn would burst apart in a shower of golden dust and go back to Tartarus like a good little monster. Sadly, he did not. But we still held the advantage.

Thorn sprung at us, outraged, but he's lost his greatest weapon. I ran forward to meet him, parrying claw strikes with my sword. Meanwhile, Theo had gotten to his feet and was launching arrows into the monster's side. Jocelyn, from her place on the floor, would occasionally call out, "Duck!" and fire a bullet into Thorn.

His paws became even more of a bloody mess. Arrows stuck out from his side. His tail hung useless, the end a bloody stump. Bullet holes peppered his front legs and shoulders.

In one last desperate play, he reared back for a massive downward strike. I yelled, and switched to trident mode, stabbing Thorn in his now unprotected underside. Simultaneously, Theo unleashed five arrows into his belly, and Jocelyn finished unloading her revolver. Finally, Thorn burst apart in a shower of golden powder. Theo's arrows clattered to the ground. It was over. We'd won.

For a moment, the room was silent. The guards who'd been watching the encounter, jeering at us were stoic, looking to Gaius for a command. Gaius, however, merely grinned. "Well done, you three!" he finally said, clapping. The sound echoed throughout the room so that it was as if an entire crowd was applauding. "You fought fantastically, I must say. There were a couple of close calls there, but you succeeded! I am very pleased. Truth be told, I never really liked Thorn anyway." He snapped his fingers, and Persephone floated forwards off his stage. She came to a stop next to Theo, who had dashed over to give Jocelyn medical attention the moment Thorn exploded. Persephone fell to the ground.

I, on the other hand, remained stock still, glaring at Gaius with malice. Gaius continued to smirk at me. "A deal is a deal. My soldiers and I will allow you to leave this place in peace with the goddess. Congratulations, you passed your test. You truly are worthy."

My blood was boiling. "You think," I said, my voice deadly quiet, "that you can just dismiss me like that? That you can almost cause the world's destruction without a second thought and you expect me to be okay with that?"

"Oh, no," Gaius said. "I do not presume to believe that you'll be okay with it. But I'm afraid that your choices are limited, my dear."

I heard roaring in my ears. I charged at Gaius. In an instant, his soldiers closed in on me, their spears levelled at my chest. I switched back to sword mode and tensed my arm, ready to fight my way through them to get to Gaius. The fact that I was far outnumbered did not occur to me.

"Elizabeth, wait!" Theo yelled.

"You'll get yourself killed," Jocelyn shouted.

Their voices brought me back to reality. I lowered Marianas and sheathed it. The soldiers stepped back. Gaius laughed. "Listening to your friends! Good! Well, Elizabeth, I am sure I shall see you again before too much longer." He turned on his feet, and without a second glance, walked through a set of stone doors behind him that I hadn't noticed before. His troops followed quickly behind, and my friends and I were left alone. The man who had kidnapped Persephone was gone.

* * *

 **AN: Alright! Well that was fun!**

 **SO, the end of the story is nigh. I have three more chapters left to put up. So here's the plan for the end of Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess. I HOPE to upload all three of the remaining chapter this week. I, however, will not promise that. If I do not feel my work is up to my usual snuff, then I won't rush it. I'd rather write well than just crank out crap. If I do not get the story finished this week, I'm afraid that you'll have to wait a bit for the end of the story. See, I'm going on a trip next week, and I won't have internet access on the trip. That is why I am hoping to finish up before I leave.**

 **I also hope to give you an update and some sneak peeks for book 2 before I leave on the trip. I'll tell you more about book 2 later, but keep your eyes open.**

 **I don't know if my next update will be tomorrow or Tuesday, but keep your eyes peeled. Alright, I'm out. See you soon!**


	18. Chapter 18: I Am Nearly Incinerated

**AN: Hello everyone. I know this is quite a bit later in the evening than I usually post, but here's the next chapter. I won't say much here, except, as always, thank you. I will hopefully update tomorrow, but if not then, then by Thursday. See you then, and on with the story. DFTBA!**

Chapter 18: I Am Nearly Incinerated

"Now get ready," Theo warned Jocelyn, placing his hand around the spike still stuck through her leg. "This is probably going to hurt a lot."

Jocelyn nodded and closed her eyes. Theo pulled, and the spike came out with an awful squelching sound. Jocelyn screamed in pain. Theo fed her a square of ambrosia that he'd kept in his pocket. Then he ordered us to rip the sleeves off of our t-shirts. He used them to make a makeshift bandage for Jocelyn's leg. With some help, Jocelyn managed to stagger to her feet. We turned and stood over the still-unconscious form of Persephone.

"Diagnosis doctor?" Jocelyn asked Theo.

Theo knelt over the goddess and examined her. "She _seems_ alright, just asleep. She may still be out for a few hours. Then again, I might be totally wrong. I've never tried to give an immortal a medical examination. So what do we do?"

"Take her back to Olympus," I said. "And we'd better hurry. We may be out of time already."

"Well aren't you just a blue bird of happiness," Jocelyn said sarcastically. "Try being cheerful! We just beat Thorn!"

"I'll be cheerful when the quest is _actually over_ ," I replied. _And after that crazy Gaius is found and stopped,_ I added to myself.

We hoisted up Persephone and left the Aztec temple. It was eerily silent as we left the complex. Gaius had left the place empty of everyone; his monsters, his rouge demigods, everyone was gone.

The walk back to Nico took forever. All of us were tired, dirty, and injured. Jocelyn kept stopping to rest her bad leg. Oh, and let's not forget the sack of potatoes that was the goddess Persephone, which two of us constantly had to drag between us. Jocelyn, annoyingly, kept insisting that she help carry the goddess, even with her injured leg. By the time we made it back to the street where we'd left Nico, it was well after midday and the temperature was well above one hundred degrees.

Nico looked a bit better. He wasn't green anymore. In fact, he wasn't even any paler than usual. He did look exhausted, but looked relieved when he saw us approaching. "Thank the gods!" he exclaimed. "I was worried! What happened? What's wrong with her?"

"I'll tell you sometime later," I assured him as we shouldered our backpacks. "Right now, we've got to get back to Olympus. Do you feel up to another trip?"

He nodded and held out his arm. My friends and I grabbed on, making sure that we had a tight hold on Persephone, and we collapsed into our own shadow.

* * *

For a moment, the unmistakable sound of New York City traffic nearly overwhelmed me. I was home. I swallowed the lump in my throat and focused, taking in our surroundings. We'd arrived on Fifth Avenue, right outside of the Empire State Building. We'd arrived at the entrance to Olympus.

"Thanks, Nico," I said.

He staggered over to a nearby wall and leaned against it for support. "You're welcome," he said hoarsely. I thought he might be sick again, but he seemed to master his nausea. "Man, that force thing in Mexico City really did a number on me. I haven't had this much trouble Shadow Travelling since I first started." He glanced over at us. "You're still here? Get going! No time to spare!"

Jocelyn and Theo took Persephone's weight. I started to protest, but Jocelyn shut me down. "I can handle her weight. It's your quest, you should take the lead on this."

I frowned, but led the way into the building. We marched straight up to the front desk, our footsteps echoing on the polished stone floor. The guy at the reception desk glanced up with an unpleasant look on his face as we approached. I realized that we probably looked homeless, what with our filthy, ripped clothes and haggard appearances. I was worried he might kick us out, but hopefully Persephone would be our "All-Access Pass."

"We need access to Olympus," I told him. "600th floor."

He gave us the once over. "Don't know what you're talking about kid," he said unconvincingly. "Now scram."

Anger surged through me. We had been through a lot. We'd travelled across the country, completed ridiculous challenges for Hecate, and almost gotten killed by a Manticore. I hadn't slept in more than twenty-four hours, and the only thing I'd eaten all day was one McDonalds breakfast sandwich. I slammed my hands down on his desk. "Listen buddy, I've been through a lot recently. You do not want to test me. See that woman my friends are carrying? Her safe return is the only thing stopping two gods from tearing each other apart and taking the world with them. I'm not about to fail this whole quest because some fat security guard won't let us up to Olympus! Now give us access!"

The guy studied me impassively for a moment, then sighed, like he was used to abuse from heroes, and handed me a key card. "Make sure there's no one else in there."

"Thank you," I said, then added, feeling a little bad, "Sorry I called you fat."

The guy just shrugged, and went back to reading a book.

I led my friends to a nearby elevator. We hopped in and I swiped the card. Suddenly, a button labelled "600" appeared. I pressed it and we started going up. Music played; I'm pretty sure it was that old pop song "Call Me Maybe." I scowled. You'd think the gods would put better tunes in their elevators.

"Listen, Elizabeth," Jocelyn said. She was leaning against the wall of the elevator, resting her leg. Stationary, Theo could support Persephone's weight alone just fine. "Please be careful when you talk to the gods."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"As you admitted back in New Orleans, you have got a bit of a temper," Theo put in.

"And we've been through quite a lot," Jocelyn continued. "We'd hate this quest to end with you getting vaporized. That would be an awkward story to explain back at Camp."

I was silent for a moment. They were, of course, right. I had to get better about controlling my temper. The problem was, it was so hard sometimes to rein my anger in. Nevertheless, I said, "I'll do my best."

The number readout was displaying magical numbers. I wondered vaguely what was on those floors. Could you get out at floor 528? If you did what would you find?

Ding. Floor 600. The doors opened, and what I saw left me speechless. Now let me be clear. I've never had a problem accepting things for what they are. I'd been raised since birth knowing about gods and monsters and heroes. I knew about Mount Olympus. But knowing about it had not prepared me for the real thing. I dare you to find someone who _wouldn't_ have gaped.

The city sprawled out across a decapitated mountain peak. Everywhere I looked there was something amazing and beautiful. I felt intense pride in my mother, who'd redesigned the city of the gods when she was still a teenager. Every house was a mansion. The streets were made of marble, inlaid with precious metals, mostly gold. Gardens bloomed with an incredible assortment of flowers, some of which I was sure didn't exist in the mortal world. Each plaza held a statue of a god, painted and posed in powerful positions. Temples dotted the landscape. Naiads, nymphs, satyrs, and minor gods roamed about, laughing, joking, and exchanging phone numbers. The Muses were getting ready for a concert in a golden amphitheater. And at the very top of the mountain-top was a magnificent palace, so beautiful that I couldn't describe it in a finite amount of words. And that was just what I could see from the elevator doors.

"Oh –" Jocelyn started.

"My –" Theo added.

"Gods," I finished. My friends were gaping just as wide as I was. Finally, I recovered. "Come on, let's go."

As we walked through the eternal city, minor gods and naiads waved at us amiably. I'm pretty sure one of the minor gods was checking me out. No one seemed particularly worried about the smack down between Hades and Demeter, which could start any second. They were above it all. Literally. I vaguely wondered if any of these minor gods had demigod kids. Then I wondered which gods these even were. I kinda thought about those in the wrong order, but whatever.

We climbed up the mountain, and we couldn't help but stare. As we got closer to the grand palace, where the Olympian Council met, the mansions became even more opulent. Finally, we made it to the top of the mountain. We passed beneath an arch supported by statues of Zeus and Hera. A wide plaza surrounded by pillars was in front of the main doors. In the center of the plaza was an awesome fountain, that sprayed impossible patterns into the air, including a mermaid, some sea monsters, and a man wielding a trident. The plaza was also home to an unusual garden made of precious metals and gems. They were entrancing. I saw Jocelyn gaze at a particularly large ruby with longing. The plaza must've been for the Big Three: in Zeus's territory, decorated by representations of Hades and Poseidon's domains.

We passed around the fountain and up a set of low stone steps to the main doors, which were large enough to drive a cruise ship through. They were made of solid platinum, trimmed with gold. Lightning-bolt patterns adorned each door.

I paused in front of them and turned back to my friends. "Ready?"

Theo and Jocelyn adjusted Persephone on their shoulders. "Ready," they chorused.

I pushed on the doors and they swung open with ease.

* * *

The first thing that struck me was that the gods were all twenty feet tall. That simple fact was so terrifying that I decided to examine the room first. It was a pretty cool place. The central hearth roared with bright yellow and orange flames. Around the hearth thirteen thrones, each different than the last, were arranged in a U pattern.

13? Isn't the Olympian Council only 12 large? Yes. Before Hades had a permanent throne on Olympus, there were only twelve thrones, except on the winter solstice when a guest throne was brought in for the Lord of the Underworld. However, since Hades got a permanent seat on the council, so too did he get a permanent throne. By contrast, _technically_ Hera was not a member of the council, but as Queen of the Heavens, she got a throne.

Anyway, each throne was different, reflecting their god's personality and domain. Tapestries depicting beautiful scenes of gods and heroes adorned the chamber. They were so realistic that I felt like I could go right into the scenes. I recognized a couple from my parents' stories; there was my parents fighting Kronos, there were Uncle Jason, Aunt Piper, Uncle Leo, and Festus blowtorching Gaea. Others were ones I recognized from much older stories; there was Zeus tricking Kronos into barfing up his siblings, there were the gods freeing the Cyclopes from Tartarus. An ornate tank was positioned in the back of the room, where the gods kept the strangest pet I'd ever seen. Its front half was a cow, and the back half was a serpent.

Finally, I turned my attention to the terrifyingly large beings occupying the room. All but two of the thrones were occupied. The owners of those two thrones were standing directly across the hearth from each other, yelling into the other's face. The sound was slightly quieter than a nuclear explosion, but only slightly. Obviously, these were the gods Hades and Demeter.

Hades was tall, with pale skin and a lithe figure. His black robes rippled with the faces of the damned. His hair was black and oily, his eyes intense, dark, and full of malice for the goddess he was yelling at. The goddess yelling back at him, Demeter, looked like an older version of the goddess that Jocelyn and Theo were holding between them, with the same full, dark hair pulled back in a bun. She had dried grass weaved through it. Her eyes were like amber waves of grain. Her robes were an earthy green.

As Athena had warned me, the other gods were staying out of it. But it was worse than that, most of them looked like they didn't care. Some even looked bored. That was really infuriating to me. The mortal world was hanging in the balance and the other gods couldn't even work up the energy to care?

Zeus sat at the head of the council, wearing a dark blue pinstripe suit. His eyes were sky blue and his black hair and beard were perfectly trimmed. Not a single strand of hair was out of place. He sat with his arms folded, like he didn't care.

To his left sat his wife, Hera. She was elegant with her long, peacock blue dress and intricately woven dark hair. She seemed to be paying the argument in the center of the room at least a modicum of attention, though she was sipping absentmindedly from a cup of what I assumed was Nectar. The next throne was empty: Demeter's.

Next on the goddess side of the room was my grandmother Athena, who seemed to be one of the only gods paying rapt attention to the argument. Next to her was a goddess with braided auburn hair. She wore a silver shirt and grey camo pants. Artemis, I figured. She was occupying herself by restringing a bow made of deer antlers.

Beyond her was the most beautiful individual I'd ever seen in my life. I honestly couldn't say what she looked like because her appearance kept changing, becoming more and more beautiful with each passing second. The goddess Aphrodite. She was holding a hand mirror and adjusting her already flawless makeup.

On the dude side of the room, my grandfather sat next to Zeus. Like Athena, he was paying attention, though he seemed to be struggling to. I had a feeling that the only reason he really cared about the fight between his brother and sister was because of me and my quest, which was touching on the one hand, and infuriating on the other.

Next to him was a muscular, misshapen man. One of his legs was in a steel brace. His head was a strange, lopsided lump. He had a wild brown beard that kept smoldering and occasionally catching fire. His mechanic's jumpsuit was covered in oil stains. He tinkered with machine parts in his hands. Hephaestus, probably.

The next throne was occupied by a guy in a postal worker's uniform with curly slat-and-pepper hair and sneakers that sprouted wings from either side. He leaned to one side, his chin in one hand and checking his phone with the other. Hermes, I was pretty sure.

Then there was a guy who looked like a typical California surfer: blond hair, tan skin, Bermuda shorts, flip flops, tank top, and Ray Ban sunglasses. He had ear buds in and was nodding his head along to the beat in whatever song he was listening to. Apollo, I thought. Then was Dionysus, who looked as unpleasant as ever, twirling a grape vine between his fingers.

Following him was a buff guy dressed all in leather, his harsh face riddled with scars, his eyes hidden behind turtle-shell sunglasses. He was cleaning mud off the bottom of one of his massive combat boots using a hunting knife that was larger than my sword. He could only be Ares. The final throne on the male was empty, as it belonged to Hades.

None of them had noticed us enter. Hades and Demeter were too busy arguing, and those that weren't paying attention to the argument were lost in la-la land. I decided to change that. I stepped forward and cleared my throat loudly. It sounded pathetic in the monstrous room, but it was good enough to capture the gods' attention. Hades and Demeter broke off their argument and looked at me like I had two heads. Poseidon and Athena both straightened up in their thrones.

I made sure to bow nice and low before I spoke. "Hello, my lords and ladies," I said. "Erm… My name is Elizabeth Jackson, and my friends and I have rescued Persephone."

At that Theo and Jocelyn stepped forward with the goddess.

Silence. Then: "What's wrong with her?" It was Demeter. I couldn't exactly tell whether she was worried because her face was so huge that any expression was just scary looking. But she _sounded_ worried.

Theo answered tentatively, "As far as I can tell, my lady, nothing. She's just sleeping. She should wake up soon enough."

Demeter glared over at Apollo who shrugged. "I'd have to give her a full look over myself to be sure, but the boy's my son. I trust his judgement on the matter." Theo blushed at his father's compliment.

From across the room, Artemis snidely remarked to her twin, "Plus you're too lazy to get out of that chair and check yourself." Apollo didn't respond. Maybe it was true, maybe he'd heard it before and it no longer phased him, or maybe he'd gone back to listening to his music and hadn't heard his sister. I couldn't tell which.

"Well someone should relieve those two heroes of her weight," Athena pointed out. "Take her some place to rest." Nymphs appeared out of nowhere and carried Persephone off.

Demeter sniffed disdainfully. "No doubt you heroes retrieved my daughter from a prison in the Underworld?"

"Demeter, you will withdraw such heinous accusations!" Hades roared. "You have no proof!"

"You kidnapped her before! Don't think I've forgotten that!"

"And you've hated me ever since! Why don't you –"

"Silence!" Zeus said loudly. Thunder shook the room. The two gods shut up. "Brother, sister, your incessant arguing _bores_ me. I am of the mind to adjourn this emergency council meeting right now."

"Brother," Poseidon warned, "you know that to do that would be a mistake. You cannot do it."

"Bah!" Zeus spit. "I am king. I may do whatever I desire."

"Father, let us at least hear what my granddaughter has to say," Athena said. "Thus, we can resolve this argument once and for all."

Zeus grumbled, but said, "Very well. Speak, girl. Tell us how you came to find Persephone."

So I did. I told the gods everything, not leaving out a single detail. It annoyed me that so many of the gods ignored what I was saying, but I was good and kept a lid on my steadily increasing temper. I told them about Hecate, about the three challenges, the trip to Mexico City, the battle with Thorn, and, of course, Gaius. I _really_ tried to stress the part about Gaius. He had a plan to destroy the gods, and even if he was delusional, anyone who could kidnap a goddess was powerful enough to do some serious damage. Most of the gods did not seem to care, though.

When I'd finished, Demeter said, "No doubt this Gaius was taking orders from Hades. It is clear as day."

"What?" Hades shouted. "You still dare accuse me? I shall –"

"Hey!" I yelled. My own voice surprised me, but the anger that had been building finally boiled over. "Why does it matter? Persephone is safe! You two are so blinded by hatred that you don't even care for the return of your daughter, Demeter, and your wife, Hades? You've been arguing pointlessly for centuries! Just stop it!"

Well that was it. I'd blown it. All the gods on the council gaped at me. I heard Theo and Jocelyn groan behind me. I wished that time travel was possible so that I could take back what I said.

"The girl is right," Demeter said, looking at Hades. My heart soared. Maybe I wasn't dead meat! "We should cease our fighting for now and focus on a common cause."

"Yes," Hades agreed, "we should. For instance, we should destroy this girl for daring to speak to us like that."

Oh. Nevermind. I was _so_ dead.

"If you dare harm her, you declare war on the House of Poseidon!" my grandfather yelled, leaping to his feet, trident in hand.

"And Athena as well," my grandmother said, standing up slowly.

For a moment, the four gods stared angrily at each other. The rest of the gods did not look bored anymore. They looked nervously between the four standing gods. I felt an intense sense of panic and guilt. _Great,_ I thought. _Save Persephone and end up causing an even worse war. Good job, Elizabeth._

"Elizabeth is right," said a small but firm voice. I swear that the little girl hadn't been there before, but there she was, standing next to the hearth. She didn't look more than ten. She wore a simple brown dress, and her eyes reflected the fire. Then I realized that they weren't _reflecting_ the fire, but they were _made_ of fire, welcoming campfire oranges and yellows. I felt a sense of calm roll over me.

"You both have held onto this grudge for too long," the girl continued. "What is important is that Persephone is safe."

Hades and Demeter both stared at the girl, then glared at each other. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, they both nodded.

"At last!" Zeus exclaimed. "Meeting adjourned!"

The Olympians left. Most of them teleported away, though they glanced at me with either curiosity or distaste before disappearing. Demeter and Hades shot me particularly contemptuous looks before teleporting away. Great! I'd alienated most of the Olympians!

Hermes and Apollo, however, did not leave instantly. They shrunk to human size, gave me odd looks, then went over to their respective children. Poseidon and Athena had stuck around as well. Both gods approached me, thankfully also now human sized.

Poseidon smiled broadly. "Well done, Elizabeth! You've saved a goddess and prevented a war! You have made your old granddad proud."

I blinked. "Thank you," I managed.

Athena was not smiling. Instead, she was studying me. "Elizabeth, might we have a word alone?"

I glanced at my friends who'd already bid their respective fathers farewell and were waiting for me. "You guys go ahead," I called back to them. "I'll meet you downstairs."

"You sure?" Jocelyn asked.

"Yeah," I said. They left, looking back at me worriedly.

Athena looked pointedly at Poseidon. He grumbled. "Very well. I shall take my leave as well." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Well done, once again." Then he vanished, leaving behind a smell of seawater.

Athena walked silently towards her throne and I followed. It was a simple throne, squarish and made of white marble. "That was a foolish thing you did," Athena to me at last. "You should not speak to gods as such."

"I know, grandmother," I said dejectedly. "I'm sorry."

Athena's look softened just a fraction. "Do not mistake me, Elizabeth. You did well on your quest. You used your wits to succeed against more powerful enemies. I still claim you as my grandchild. But you must be wary of your fatal flaw."

There she went bringing up my flaw again. "My temper is my fatal flaw, isn't it?" I guessed.

Athena paused before answering. "In part. Your true fatal flaw is not exactly your temper. You might be able to control that if not for your fatal flaw. Think."

I might control my temper without my fatal flaw? I thought back to all the times I'd lost my temper, trying to find what they had in common. I thought of yelling at Demeter and Hades, yelling at Hecate. I thought of charging at Thorn just after cracking my head against the wall. I thought way back to the creek when I'd almost killed Augustus. Sure, it had been an accident, but it was still fueled by anger. I even thought all the way back to my fight with Mrs. Dimitri, throwing that wild punch after she'd ruined my baseball cap. And then another event occurred to me, unconnected, seemingly, to the others: when I'd kissed Theo is Vegas. But in a way it was similar to the others. On all of those occasions, I had acted without thinking. I'd acted entirely on…

"Impulse," I said quietly. "I'm impulsive. That's my fatal flaw."

Athena nodded. "Yes, when you are emotional, especially angry, you act without thought. That is your fatal flaw. Impulsivity and a short temper are a dangerous combination, granddaughter. You almost cost your own life and the fate of the mortal world today. You must be more mindful of both your temper and your impulse."

"Yes, grandmother," I said. I hesitated briefly, then asked the question that had been burning inside me. "Gaius's plan to destroy the gods… well, he also mentioned something about he and I being fated to fight someday. What does that mean? Do you know anything about it?"

With a pained look, Athena said, "I am afraid that I can tell you nothing."

What did that mean? Did she not know, or could she just not tell me? I felt a surge of anger and annoyance, but I held back, just as Athena wanted.

"Do not despair," Athena said. "Fate makes sense in time. Until then, be vigilant, and remember to beware your fatal flaw." And with that Athena was gone.

"Why do gods never just say goodbye?" I wondered aloud.

I started back towards the door, but thought better of it. I turned and walked back to the hearth. The little girl was still there, staring into the flames. I had a pretty good guess as to who she was. "You're Lady Hestia?" I asked. The little girl looked at me and memories of home went through my head: practicing fighting with Matt, going on those family vacations to Montauk, playing chess with my mom. Homesickness almost overwhelmed me again. I blinked back tears.

"Welcome to the hearth, Elizabeth," she said. "I have been expecting you for a long time." That sounded kind of ominous, but I didn't point that out.

"I just wanted to thank you," I said. "If you hadn't said anything, I'd be dead now."

"You spoke the truth," Hestia said simply. "I have been telling my siblings to stop fighting for centuries. Sadly, it seems they grew so used to my voice that they started ignoring me. A new voice was needed to make them hear."

Suddenly, something inside me broke. All the anxiety and fear that I'd been keeping managed overcame me. I started sobbing. I don't know why it happened then. Maybe it was the adrenaline that I'd been running on since my escape from the Lotus finally ran out. Maybe it was an effect of being around Hestia. Or maybe I'd just found my breaking point. Whatever the case, I sat there next to the fire and balled. Hestia let me cry myself out.

"Sorry," I managed after a few minutes. "I don't know what came over me. It's just… all been so much."

Hestia shook her head. "It is unnecessary to apologize. You were afraid, and rightly so. But now, you can finally rest. You are a good hero, Elizabeth Jackson. You have much of your father in you. Someday, you shall return to Olympus. When you do, remember your fear. Only by accepting it, can you conquer it."

I wasn't sure I entirely understood that, but I nodded all the same. The way she had said that made me wonder, though… Maybe she knew something about my fate. "Lady Hestia," I said, "I was wondering… do you know what Gaius meant when he said we'd fight someday?"

"I am not sure," Hestia said. "All I know is that you've got a great role to play in the coming years."

That was a frustratingly vague answer, but I said nothing. I didn't need to snap at her and get on _another_ goddess's bad side.

"Well thank you again," I said, standing at last and wiping my eyes. "I should go."

"Farewell, Elizabeth Jackson," Hestia said. "Remember my words."

* * *

 **AN: That's it for this chapter! I'll see you guys next time. Only two chapters left!**


	19. Chapter 19: I Learn Some Bad News

**AN: Hello everyone. Again, later in the evening than usual, but here's the next chapter. I will (cross everything) be uploading the final chapter tomorrow night or in the wee hours of Saturday morning. If I can't post in time, I'll at least put up an Author's Note explaining that. As always, I really want to thank everyone who has supported this story in any way, shape, or form.**

 **There was only one question last time, but there were also a few comments that I'll go ahead and address. First, though, the question from DarkAngelofHeavens.  
Q) "** **Supposedly, the 7 were, too, looking for Persephone. What happened to them?"  
A) Good question. For which, there will be answers in Chapter 20. Sorry XD**

 **And now comments! First from AnamariaJovel: "You wrote 'slat and pepper' rather than 'salt and pepper hair.'"  
Oh no! I try to be so good about catching typos. Oh well, one was bound to pop up. Thanks for pointing it out to me.**

 **Now for two comments from George Oswald Dannyson: "I know you've been drawing parallels between Elizabeth and Percy, but I've also noticed some parallels between Annabeth and Percy's relationship and Jocelyn and Elizabeth's."  
Huh. It wasn't really intentional, but that is an interesting analysis. I suppose there are some similarities there.**

 **"I was going to mention that we didn't really get to know Theo and Jocelyn, they had little screen time during the camp arc, but this chapter made me wonder if it was on purpose."  
I'm glad you picked up on that! Yes, it was very intentional.**

 **Anyway, that's all from me for now. Enjoy the chapter, and DFTBA!**

Chapter 19: I Learn Some Bad News

I was pretty sure my eyes were still red from crying when I rejoined my friends in the lobby, but if they noticed, they didn't comment on it, for which I was grateful. Nico was waiting for us outside. When he saw us, a look of relief filled his face. "Thank the gods! I was worried. You were up there for so long. I thought they'd incinerated you."

"They almost did," I commented as lightly as possible. He was right. We'd been on Olympus for ages. It was fully night now.

"Would you like me to take you back to Camp?" Nico asked, holding out his arm once again. But I could tell that he still wasn't feeling one hundred percent, and I didn't want to make him feel any worse than he already did. Plus, I was about to drop dead from exhaustion, and I could tell that Theo and Jocelyn were about to as well. If we went back to Camp, that would mean explaining things, at least to Chiron, and I just didn't feel up to it. I just wanted to sleep, and I knew the perfect place to do so.

"No thanks," I said. "But you can give us money for a taxi."

* * *

My parents were still gone. Matt was still at Grandma Sally's. We had my family's apartment to ourselves. When we entered the dark apartment, too tired to even speak to each other, we crashed right on the living room sofas. I didn't even bother going up to my bedroom, I just flopped down and slept.

Unfortunately, for the first time since I had first dreamed about Gaius killing Ms. Castellan, I dreamed.

In the dream, I found myself in what looked like a conference room. Five people were seated around the long table, with two empty seats at the end. I didn't recognize any of the people, but I had a bad feeling about them all. Just then, the doors at the end of the hall burst open and Gaius and Marcus strode in. They were both dressed the same way they'd been in Mexico City: Marcus in his robes and red cape, Gaius in his white clothes and cape trimmed with gold.

Gaius took the seat at the head of the table, and Marcus sat down to his right, clearly marking him as one of Gaius's second in command. "Hello, everyone," Gaius greeted. "Sorry I'm a bit late, but let's go ahead and get started. Drake, your report?"

"Sir," said a man dressed in a golden breastplate. His head was completely bald, his skin the color of coffee with too much creamer. He was a big guy, with bulging muscles. Even sitting at the table, he looked like he was standing. "I was able to secure the item from the Romans, however, it did not contain what you sought."

Gaius sighed. "I thought as much. Very well, what did you do with it?"

"I allowed the Romans tailing me to catch up," Drake explained. "I let them think they had beaten me and allowed them to take it back."

"You let them _see_ you?" Gaius said acidly.

Drake shifted uncomfortably, "With all due respect, sir, they don't know who I am. I don't see why it matters if they saw me. And didn't you reveal yourself to the Jackson girl?"

"That is different," Gaius growled. "I _specifically_ ordered you not to be seen. Lucky for you that we'll be ready to move to the next phase soon, otherwise you would've jeopardized _everything_ we've worked for these past five years."

"Sorry, sir," Drake mumbled.

Gaius continued to glare at Drake for another few moments before turning away from him. "Twins, progress?"

Two young women at the opposite end of the table looked up. They were definitely twins, and, seemingly, albino. They certainly had all the features that I associated with albino people: white hair, snow white skin, and red eyes. They were pretty in a ghostly way. When they spoke, they spoke in unison, creating a weird echoing effect, "Sir, what you ask us to do _is_ possible. However, we are missing several important things."

"Such as?" Gaius asked.

"We need a third individual's help," they responded. "And only an individual with skills matching or exceeding our own _could_ help. Furthermore, we need a particular book."

"Why do you need a book?" Marcus asked. "And what book do you require?"

"The book contains information on how to do what Gaius is asking of us," the twins explained. "There is only one copy of the book in question. It is titled _On the Mist_ , and is in the possession of the goddess Hecate."

Gaius rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Stealing something from the goddess of magic… Hecate is no pushover like Persephone. Still, I have no doubt that we can succeed in retrieving the book you require. It will just take some careful planning. Very well, I will give the matter some thought. Anyone else have anything to report?"

"We have discovered six more potential targets," another young woman said. She sat just to Gaius's left, marking her as one of his other top lieutenants. She had auburn hair and eyes like miniature suns. Her skin looked perfect-California-sun-kissed, except for a few freckles splayed across her nose. Like Drake, she was dressed in armor. "Four of them are one hundred percent mortal, the other two are legacies, though they know nothing of the gods."

"Excellent work, Eliana," Gaius said. "Marina, see to it that these individuals are tracked down."

The woman called Marina nodded. She had blonde hair with a streak highlighted blue. Her eyes were sea green, like my dad's, but they had none of his kindness of laughter. They were cold and unwelcoming. Amazing how different two sets of eyes the same color could be. "As you say, sir."

"Well, then," Gaius said, "I believe that is all. You are all excused."

There was a scraping of chairs as people stood to leave. Gaius was the first out of the room, quickly followed by Drake, who was still seeking to apologize for his mistake, it seemed. Next, the twins of unknown names left, and finally the Marina lady left. Marcus and the woman Gaius had called Eliana stayed behind.

"How did it go?" Eliana asked Marcus.

"Exactly as Gaius thought it would," Marcus said. He sighed. "I am concerned."

"As am I," Eliana said. "His obsession with the Jackson girl could ruin the whole plan. Did he explain to you why he is so obsessed with 'determining her worth?'"

Marcus shook his head. "No. I told him what I thought; that it would be better for us if she didn't meet him until the day they're supposed to battle. That way she wouldn't know what to expect."

Eliana sighed. "I'll talk to him. Perhaps he'll tell me."

"You've known him the longest," Marcus pointed out, "and he still hasn't told you. Why would he explain himself now? If he chooses to keep secrets, he doesn't tell anyone, not even _you_."

Eliana glared at Marcus and pulled out a knife. "I'd watch your tongue, Visanus, or I might have to cut it out. You may be a good talker, but don't think for a second that I couldn't overpower you."

Marcus raised his hands in surrender, though the smirk on his face told me that he was pleased to have gotten under his companion's skin. "As you say, Eliana. Now if you'll excuse me, the trip from Mexico has been a long one, and I would like to get some sleep."

Eliana waved her hand, and left the room. Marcus chuckled slightly, then looked around the empty conference room. Then, he, too, left.

* * *

My dream changed. I was back in the Olympian throne room, but there were some differences. Firstly, there were no tapestries. Secondly, there was no throne for Hades. Thirdly, the tank for the cow-serpent was just a floating bubble of water. Oh yeah, and the room was a wreck. The hearth had burned down to the coals. The great doors had been ripped off their hinges and lay in a mangled mess. No gods were in the room, just two figures. Both wore Greek armor. One of them was a teenager, who stood well to the side. One of his eyes was covered by an eye patch.

The other figure looked almost exactly like Gaius, right down to the golden eyes. For a moment, I thought that he was Gaius, but Gaius didn't have a thin white scar beneath his left eye. Also, there was his voice. It was deeper and more sinister, like a knife scraping across stone. The voice was familiar from somewhere, but not from Gaius. He held a long scythe that glinted two different colors. He was laughing, his arms thrown wide. "Finally! The Olympian Council – so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

Eyepatch boy noticed something and pointed it out to the Gaius lookalike. "My lord."

I looked in the direction that he'd indicated and a jolt went through my body. Three new figures had stepped into the light, and I recognized them. They were just teenagers, but there was no disguising my parents and Uncle Grover. They looked terrible. Each of them was covered in a thick layer of grime and monster dust. Mom was holding her right arm stiffly, like it had been injured recently.

Gaius's doppelganger turned and gave my parents a smile. Mom made a sound almost like a whimper. "Shall I destroy you first, Jackson?" he asked. "Is that the choice you will make – to fight me and die instead of bowing down? Prophecies never end well, you know."

A choice? Prophecy? I felt my eyes go wide. What I was watching was the Great Prophecy about my dad. Which meant that the blond guy that looked so much like Gaius was actually Kronos. That was why the voice sounded familiar to me. I recalled my experience in the Underworld with a shiver. But why did Kronos and Gaius look so much alike?

"Luke would fight with a sword," dad said, baiting Kronos. "But I suppose you don't have his skill."

The name Luke again, just like in my dream about Gaius and Ms. Castellan. But who was he? I wanted to pull my hair out. The information was right there, staring me in the face, but it was like somebody was intentionally blocking the information in my brain.

Meanwhile, Kronos had risen to my father's bait. His scythe transformed, becoming a long sword, one side steel, the other bronze. Mom suddenly gasped. I could almost see the lightbulb turn on above her head. "Percy, the blade!" She pulled out a celestial bronze knife, very much like my old one. " _A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_."

Dad looked confused. Kronos attacked. "Wait!" mom yelled. They didn't wait.

The fight lasted a long time. Dad and Kronos fought ferociously. Mom fought with eyepatch guy. Uncle Grover contributed as best as he could with his pipes. At one point, dad pulled a cool trick involving Hephaestus's throne, and Kronos got blasted by electricity.

Mom kicked away the eyepatch guy and ran at Kronos. "Luke, listen!" Why was she calling Kronos Luke?

It was like getting hit with a freight train. Realization slammed into me so hard that I actually staggered. Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. I remembered him now. He was a demigod who'd been friends with my parents. But then he went bad and tried to destroy the gods. He'd become the host for Kronos.

But why? Why was I dreaming about this? And more importantly, why did Gaius look so much like Luke Castellan?

Heir to Time.

I wasn't paying attention to the fight anymore, because the horrible, sickening truth was dawning on me. How old was Gaius? Mid-twenties? That seemed about right. Dad had defeated Kronos almost twenty-five years ago. Actually, exactly twenty-five years ago in August.

Eyepatch guy was gone now. It was just Kronos and my father. Off to the side, Uncle Grover fed mom ambrosia as she lay dazed. Roots were growing out of the floor, trying to wrap around Kronos's feet. It didn't slow him down. At one point, dad managed to cut a gash in Kronos's armor. Kronos stamped his foot, and suddenly dad was moving in slow motion.

Kronos showed him images in smoke, gloating, but I barely paid attention. My mind was swirling. I kept asking one question: _How?_ How had it happened? And more importantly, how had no one known before? The world all around me seemed to be falling apart.

I was broken out of thought when Kronos screamed, "BAH!" He slashed his sword through the smoke and the image dissolved. Whatever he'd seen had clearly not been in line with his evil plan.

"They're on their way," dad said. "You've lost."

"I haven't even started," Kronos replied. He sprung at my dad with the greatest ferocity yet. Grover tried to shield him, but Kronos tossed him aside like a rag-doll. Dad tried to get under the Titan lord's guard, but Kronos countered, then disarmed him. I recognized the move. It was the same technique Matt had used to disarm me the last time we _actually_ fought. Dad's sword fell through a hole in the floor.

"STOP!" Suddenly, my mom was there. She caught Kronos's strike on the hilt of her knife. It was an impressive move, one of the hardest knife techniques to master. I watched as mom tried to talk sense into Kronos, appealing to Luke. It didn't work. At least, not until after he'd backhanded her.

"Family, Luke. You promised," mom croaked. Kronos staggered. " _Promise._ "

He gasped. A new voice, remarkably like Gaius's, came from him. "Annabeth… You're bleeding…."

I watched as Luke and Kronos fought each other for control of the body. Dad had mom's knife. He disarmed Luke/Kronos. Luke was on the ground. He was begging. "You can't… can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can… can keep him controlled."

He was literally glowing. I watched my dad hesitate. "Please," Luke groaned. "No time." Dad did something insane. He handed Luke the knife.

Luke stabbed himself. It worked. There was a blast of light, and then it was over. Luke lay next to the hearth, his whole left side bloody. His eyes were blue now. I didn't want to watch him exchange last words with my parents, but I stood there anyway, watching Luke Castellan die, the truth weighing me down.

Because I understood now. Maybe I had succeeded in my quest and saved Persephone, but my prophecy had been right. _For succeed or fail, it matters not_. It didn't matter that I had succeeded, because Gaius had gotten away. And now I understood just how dangerous that was. He'd been plenty threatening before, but now I knew just how horrible an enemy Gaius had the potential be. Because now I knew why he looked so much like Luke Castellan. I knew why he was the Heir to Time. I didn't know how it was possible, but I knew it was true. Gaius was the son of Kronos.

* * *

 **AN: GASP! Yeah, so there's that. Who was surprised about Gaius being Kronos's son, and who had already predicted it? Let me know! See you soon! Only one more chapter!**


	20. Chapter 20: The Summer Ends

**AN: PHEW! Right down to the wire, but I did manage to get this last chapter up before going away for a week. So yay! As always, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support for this story, whether you've reviewed, followed, favorited, or just read it, your support has been incredible, and I am truly grateful that so many people have enjoyed my brain child.**

 **Alright, no more delays. Here we go. DFTBA!**

Chapter 20: The Summer Ends on a Sour Note

"Elizabeth?" I opened my eyes. My fully adult mother was standing over me, a mixture of confusion and concern on her face.

"Mom," I croaked, relief surging through my body and heating me up. I sat up on the sofa and hugged her tightly. She was dressed in travelling clothes. Clearly she'd just gotten back. Pink light came in through the bank of windows behind me. It must've been early morning.

My friends were yawning, stretching, and sitting up. "Morning Elizabeth," Theo said through a particularly wide yawn. Then he noticed me hugging my mom. "Is this your mom?"

"No, that's Puff the Magic Dragon," Jocelyn retorted.

A familiar snort of laughter from the area of the front door informed me that my dad had just walked in. "I don't know who you are," I heard him say, "but I like your sense of humor."

I pulled back from my mom and climbed off the sofa, running to dad and giving him a hug, too. "Hey there!" he said. "Missed you too! But shouldn't you be at Camp? Who are your friends?"

"Quest," I explained simply.

He and mom shared a look that I couldn't read. Mom pursed her lips. "You'll have to tell us about it over breakfast."

And so my friends and I sat down with my parents to talk over a breakfast of blue pancakes and bacon. I didn't particularly feel like talking about my quest yet, and I especially didn't feel like going through my dream just yet, so after introductions I asked my parents how their quest had gone. Technically I wasn't supposed to know they'd been on one, but they didn't seem surprised that I knew.

"Well not so great," dad said. "We didn't run into any more trouble than usual, but we couldn't find any leads on… what we were after."

"Seaweed brain," mom said, exasperated, "they probably know already. I'm assuming your quest had to do with finding Persephone?"

I nodded, and dad smacked his forehead. "I'm such an idiot," he muttered. "Yeah, so we didn't find her. But I guess you guys did, since the world didn't end and we got an IM saying we could come back."

"Instant messaging?" Theo asked, scratching his head. "Isn't that old fashioned? Don't you text?"

Jocelyn smacked him in the back of the head. " _Iris Messaging,_ idiot. It's a magical method of communication. We don't use it so much anymore because Eta Electronics stuff is safe for demigods to use, but Iris will still send messages if you know how to ask."

"Oh," Theo said sheepishly.

"Anyway, we were flying all over the country in two different teams," dad continued. "Your mother and I, Uncle Leo, and Aunt Calypso were one team. The other was Uncle Jason, Aunt Piper, Uncle Frank, and Aunt Hazel."

"Who watched Emily, Hannah, and Riley?" I asked, remembering that the Graces had taken their youngest son out with them to California to spend time with the Zhangs.

"They stayed at Reyna and Adrian's," mom answered. "We searched for Persephone for several weeks, far longer than any of us had planned to, but we never saw so much as a hair of a lead." I could tell by the look on her face that it still frustrated her. Mom liked knowing things even more than I did. "But then last night Jason Iris Messaged us to say that he'd gotten word that Persephone was back. So we started back home. Leo just dropped us off."

"Yep, it was pretty much the most unproductive quest I've ever been on," dad said.

"That probably had to do with us," Jocelyn said. "Or rather your daughter. The prophecy we got was pretty clear that it was supposed to be her that found Persephone."

And so we launched into the story of our quest. I let Jocelyn and Theo do most of the talking, only volunteering to fill in details for the things they hadn't been there for. I was still preoccupied with what I had dreamed about. I was asking the same question: how had Kronos had, what I would assumed to be, a part-mortal son? Now don't get me wrong. I'd had health class, I'd been on the internet, I'd had the super embarrassing talk with my parents (not necessarily in that order). I knew how babies were made and how they were born. That wasn't the question.

The question was how Luke Castellan had had a son, especially after becoming the host for Kronos. Because that seemed to be the only explanation to me. Gaius was so _obviously_ Luke's son, and at the same time, he was also Kronos's son. Which technically made Gaius my great uncle? That was a weird thought. Somehow, though, after merging with Kronos, Luke Castellan had eloped with some woman and had a son. But who was she? How had it all happened? And perhaps most importantly, why hadn't anyone known about it until now?

"And then Gaius got away," Jocelyn was saying. "He was saying he had some big plan to destroy the gods. And he seemed to think that he and Elizabeth had some big battle fated. But we don't really know anything about who he is."

"I do," I said quietly. Part of me didn't want to share the dream I'd had, I was still too disturbed. And if I said it aloud, it would make it real. But what I'd discovered was too big to keep secret. This was vitally important. "I… I had a dream last night." To make things easier on myself, I told them first about the conference room I'd seen. I hadn't given much thought to it because the idea that Kronos had a son was such a big piece of information that it was sort of all-consuming. Besides which, nothing about the conference meeting made any sense to me.

My friends and parents couldn't make hide or hair of it either. "And the book that two of them needed was the same one you had to retrieve in Seattle?" Jocelyn asked.

I nodded. "I think they're going to try and steal it from Hecate. I don't know how they plan on getting through the stupid Mist thing, but Gaius was able to kidnap a goddess, so I wouldn't put anything past him."

Dad scratched his neck. "That is weird. Maybe see if any of the Hecate kids back at Camp can send a message to her. Warn her, you know?"

"Uh, I hate to be rude," Theo interjected, "but I thought you said you know who Gaius is? Did I miss something, or did you not say?"

I gulped. "I'm… getting to that part." And so I explained the second part of my dream. I noticed my parents get faraway looks on their faces like they were reliving the old fight with Kronos. Then I explained my realization. My friends' mouths dropped open. Mom went pale as a sheet. Dad actually fell out of his chair. He returned to his seat, swearing up a storm, a look of utter dismay on his face.

"That's… that's impossible," my mom finally managed.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It is. But I'm absolutely sure of it. Somehow, it is possible."

"Well you can't be one hundred percent sure, right?" Theo asked hopefully.

"What else explains the Heir to Time bit?" Jocelyn countered. Then she cursed. "How did we not see it before? It seems so obvious!"

"Because it should've been impossible," I said gravely. "But Gaius looks exactly like Luke did in my dream. They even had the same voice. It's the best explanation."

"But I always thought…" mom said, trailing off, her face a mix of emotions. I spotted confusion, fear, anger, and… was that hurt?

Dad's face was easier to read. He was looking at mom with utmost concern on his face. "I know, Wise Girl. I thought so, too."

Silence fell over the group. Nobody was eating anymore. I couldn't even work up the desire to finish my bacon, which was very unlike me. My friends seemed worried, fearful even, but it was nothing compared to my parents. I had never seen them this way before, and it was unsettling. They both seemed shaken to their core, like the world had fallen out from under their feet.

Mom fixed me with her eyes. "Elizabeth," she said very seriously, "please be extra careful. I couldn't…" her voice broke. "I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you."

"Mom…"

"Elizabeth," dad said, his voice equally serious, "you have to understand. Your mother and I fought so hard for so long to make the world a better place. A safer place. A place where you and your brother could live without having to fight a great evil or deal with any great prophecies."

"I may not have a choice," I said quietly. "If Gaius is right, if there really is a prophecy involving us, some great battle we're destined to have… I can't change that. Trying to change fate is too dangerous."

My parents didn't like that, I could tell by the looks on their faces. I could hardly blame them. I had heard most of their stories. I had always thought that having an adventure would be cool when I was younger, but having now been on a quest myself, I wasn't so sure that it _was_ cool anymore. And I hadn't even heard the worst of my parents' experiences. They always seemed to gloss over pieces of their adventures every time they told me stories. Like, I'm pretty sure that they left out parts of the Labyrinth story, and while I knew they'd been to Tartarus and that they had been saved by Bob the good Titan and Damasen the good giant, that was _it_. Tartarus was relegated to a single sentence every time they told Matt and I stories.

But they'd done everything, gone through so much danger and hardship, to protect the world, and, ultimately, make it a better place. But if I had a dangerous future to face – and Gaius and Hestia certainly alluded that I would – then all the work they'd done would, to them, have been for nothing.

"Don't worry Mr. and Mrs. Jackson," Jocelyn said. "Whatever Elizabeth has coming her way, you can be damn well sure that Theo and I will be there to watch her back."

Theo nodded. "Yeah, no way she's going to face some dangerous fate without us."

My parents still looked pale and upset, but I could tell that they pulled it together for our benefit. "Thank you," dad said. "Both of you. I'm glad Elizabeth has found such reliable friends."

After that we tried to finish our breakfasts, but none of us had any appetite anymore. Finally dad stood up and announced that he was going to pick up Matt from Grandma Sally's. Part of me really wanted to see my brother again, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. There were so many thoughts crammed in my mind that adding anything else would make me explode. So I asked mom if she'd take me, Theo, and Jocelyn back to Camp.

* * *

When we finally arrived back at Half-Blood Hill, a bunch of campers were waiting for us. Even Peleus the dragon looked excited to see us. Before I even made it to the top of the hill, Katherine and Mike rushed me and pulled me into a group hug.

"You made it!" Katherine exclaimed.

I managed a small smile, and even a joke in a croaky voice. "You don't have to sound so surprised."

Mike laughed. "Yeah, come on Kat. Have some faith in the girl! I always knew you'd make it back successfully, for the record."

Chiron cantered forward. "Welcome home, heroes! I received the report from Mount Olympus last night. You have done magnificently!" He beamed, like he couldn't be happier to see us alive and unharmed. I really didn't want to ruin the old centaur's mood, but I figured he needed to know the whole story _and_ the truth about Gaius.

"Chiron," I said gravely, "we need to talk."

His smile faltered. The crowd of campers was still chattering excitedly, trying to get details about our quest from Theo and Jocelyn, but none of them bothered me. Mike was playing bodyguard, keeping them well back.

"What's the matter, child?" Chiron asked quietly.

I shook my head. "Not here. Big House." I didn't want to tell this huge crowd of people the truth. Not all at once.

Chiron nodded. "Campers!" he called out. "Return to your activities!"

There was a lot of groaning, but eventually the crowd dispersed. Only Mike and Katherine stayed with me and my friends as we walked down to the Big House. Gwendolyn met us on the porch, her shirt, as always, covered in sharpied in prophecies. Mr. D didn't seem to be around, which was just as well. I didn't know that I could stand his snide remarks as I recounted the story for the second time that day.

We told Chiron everything. When I told him about my dream, and coming to realize that Gaius was Kronos's son, he actually seemed to show his thousands of years of age. For a long time after we finished, he was silent. "This is…"

"Bad?" Jocelyn supplied. "Yeah, we kinda thought so too."

I turned to Gwendolyn. Her eyebrows were drawn together in confusion. "When I met Gaius," I said, "he mentioned that there was some kind of fated battle coming between the two of us. Some kind of prophecy, probably. You don't happen to know…"

Gwendolyn shook her head. "I'm sorry Elizabeth, but no prophecy _I've_ given has provided even the remotest clue as to what he might be talking about. And Rachel gave me a copy of every prophecy she'd given that had yet to be fulfilled when I took over from her. I'll check my notes and my other shirts, but… I don't have any more idea than you do."

I frowned. Not even the Oracle knew? Maybe Gaius was wrong then… But he'd already proven to have a pretty good method of seeing the future. He'd proven that when he'd kidnapped Persephone just to get me to come and find her. Clearly, we were missing something.

Mike rubbed his chin. "We need to know more about this son of Kronos. We should send out a quest to find him."

"We do need to know more about him," Chiron said, "but we won't be sending out a quest to find him. He has already proven himself a dangerous enemy."

"But Chiron," Katherine protested, "surely we should –"

"He's right," Gwendolyn put in. "There's no point in trying to go after him yet. You don't have any leads, and I have a hunch that every single person at Camp could ask for a quest to go and find out more about him and I wouldn't even get slightly dizzy. And my hunches are usually correct."

"Besides which," Chiron added, "a quest would draw attention to the fact that somewhere out there, there is a son of Kronos plotting dangerous things. It would cause panic."

"Uh," I said, "but the other campers will still find out about Gaius."

"Only if you tell them," Chiron said heavily.

"What?!" I couldn't believe that I was hearing that. Chiron was suggesting keeping something this big from the other campers? Surely everyone had a right to know! But then I remembered what Athena had said about my fatal flaw. True, this wasn't a life or death situation, but my immediate impulse was that everyone should know. Maybe that wasn't the best option. Still, keeping it a complete secret…

"I am not proposing to keep the truth from the other campers forever," Chiron assured me. "But for now at least, there's nothing we can do. Until Gaius does something else, something to give us an actual lead, we have nothing to go on. If we told everyone now, caused a panic, it would run counter to what we need to be doing. For now, we need to focus more than ever on making sure that everyone is properly trained, and the best way to do that is to continue with business as usual."

I sighed, but nodded. There was sense in what Chiron was saying.

"What about the gods?" Jocelyn asked. "Surely, they, at least, need to know this."

"Yes," Chiron said, "they do. I will inform them of this news myself. Unfortunately, the gods are rather stubborn, and many may simply refuse to believe that it is true until things are already bad. Hopefully their experience in the two most recent wars will have opened their eyes to the danger of ignoring dangerous foes, but…" That didn't sound too promising. The more experience I had with gods, the more most of them ticked me off. How could they not take a threat like the son of Kronos seriously?

"I understand your frustration," Chiron said, reading my mind. "But there is nothing we can do other than hope for the best. Put it out of mind for now."

That was asking rather a lot, but I blew out a puff of air and nodded again.

Chiron sighed in relief. "Good. Well, I must go send some messages to Olympus. I will see you all at dinner."

We stood up and departed from the porch, leaving Chiron and Gwendolyn talking seriously with each other. Katherine and Mike continued to ask Theo, Jocelyn, and I for more details on the quest as we made our way back down the hill and towards the cabin area.

"Hey, Elizabeth!" A voice called out from behind us. I turned, and saw the blond haired son of Hades, Dan. "Can I speak to you real quick?"

I got the feeling he meant alone. Mike stepped in. "Can it wait, man? The girl just got back. Give her some time to rest."

"No it's fine," I said quickly. I was thankful that Mike wanted to keep other campers from pestering me, but I could handle myself. Plus, I didn't particularly feel like talking about Gaius anymore. It was sort of counterproductive to Chiron's request that I put it out of mind. "You guys go on. I'll catch up with you at dinner."

Mike and Katherine frowned, but consented and left. Theo and Jocelyn stayed put for a moment longer. "We'll go put away our things," Theo said. "Meet at the canoe lake?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "I'll see you guys in a few minutes." Theo and Jocelyn left, throwing one last glance at me as they walked away.

Finally I turned back to Dan. "So what's up?" I asked.

"I uh… just wanted to thank you personally," he said sheepishly. "For clearing my dad's name," he clarified when I gave him a confused look. "I appreciate it."

I shrugged. "I was just completing my quest. You don't need to thank me."

"Yes I do," Dan insisted. "It's… I don't know… good manners. Listen, if there's ever anything I can do for you, let me know."

I frowned. "You really don't need to –"

"Just keep it in mind," Dan said. "I owe you one, alright?"

I could tell the kid wasn't going to take no for an answer. I wasn't sure why I would ever need something particularly from him, but I nodded. "Alright, Dan. If I need you for something someday, I'll let you know."

Dan nodded. "Good. Well, uh… that was all. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, okay," I said. "See you later."

Dan ran off, probably going back to his activities. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. On the one hand, I was sort of touched that he had felt the need to thank me personally. On the other hand, I wasn't sure that I liked having someone think that they were in my debt. I continued to ponder this as I made my way back to my cabin so that I could finally put down my backpack and unload it.

Halfway across the main green, someone else ran up to me. It was Augustus Grace. He looked pretty good. He'd always been pretty strong, but his weeks of training had really toned his muscles. Not that I really noticed. He was wearing a bronze breastplate and had a sword strapped to his side when he came up. "Hey," he panted. "Sorry, I was in the woods hunting monsters. I just heard you'd gotten back."

I gave him a bemused smile. "It's fine, Gus. I didn't like… expect to see you first thing after I got back or anything."

"Well, I am really glad you're back safely," he said. He blushed, which, annoyingly, made my own face heat up. "Uh… I mean… because you know… if you hadn't made it, I would've had to explain it to my sister…"

"Right," I said quickly. "Of course." Good gods, what was wrong with me? Why was Augustus making me so flustered?

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Anyway, I'm glad you're back safely. I'll see you at dinner later."

"Sure thing," I said with a nod.

Augustus Grace ran off, leaving me confused. "Boys," I muttered, for the second time after having a conversation with him.

* * *

After that first day back, Camp fell back into a fun routine. I stayed busy during the days, going to various activities, and training harder than ever. I especially tried to work on longer weapon skills, hoping to improve my ability and dexterity with Marianas's trident form. I also continued my lessons with Katherine, though we limited it to once a week now that I had the basics.

Occasionally people from Camp Jupiter would come and visit, but it wasn't until July fourth that a large group of them came to visit. They came into the dining hall that evening, taking seats at the appropriate tables. From what I understood, the Romans didn't sit by godly parent at mealtimes at their own camp, but here they respected our traditions.

"Glad to see you made it out of the Lotus," a voice said. I turned around in my seat to see Tony Perez.

I smiled at him. "Hey! Yeah, we made it out fine. Thanks for your help. How about you? How'd your quest go?"

He frowned. "It was successful, but there was definitely something fishy about it." That didn't sound good. I recalled the dream I'd had about Gaius's secret conference room. _I allowed the Romans tailing me to catch up. I let them think they had beaten me and allowed them to take it back._ I wondered if what Gaius's underling Drake had said was about Tony's quest. I was on the verge of asking him when he smiled and said, "Well anyway, I'm gonna go sit down and eat some dinner. It was a long journey. Catch you later." And Tony strode off to the Ares table.

"Hey you," said a very familiar voice. I turned around once again to see Sierra coming towards me, smiling broadly. I leaped to my feet and gave her a hug that would crush a god. "Easy there," she managed, laughing. "I think I still have a few ribs you didn't crack."

As always, she looked great. There was a new addition to her appearance now: a tattoo on her forearm. There was a single bar, the letters SPQR, and a bird that was half dove, half eagle. That meant that she'd _already_ earned full membership in the legion. I wanted to hear that story. "Word around the block is that you went on a quest," Sierra said. "Looks like you've got stuff to tell me."

"You've got plenty to tell me, too," I said, indicating the tattoo on her arm. "How'd you earn that?"

Sierra waved her hand dismissively. "That? It was no big deal. Used my lightning powers to defibrillate someone."

"That seems like a pretty big deal to me!"

"Not compared to a quest," Sierra insisted. "You are hereby required to tell me everything. Right after dinner."

And she walked off to the Zeus table. "You can't tell me what to do!" I yelled jokingly after her. Nevertheless, after dinner, while I gave her a tour of Camp Half Blood, I told her all about my quest. I told her everything. Well, almost everything. I didn't get real specific with what I'd seen in the Mist outside of Hecate's palace. And I definitely didn't mention the fact that Gaius was Kronos's son. I had been good so far, and done as Chiron had asked.

After I finished my story, Sierra was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "There's something that you're not telling me."

I hesitated. "How can you tell?"

She snorted. "Elizabeth, we've known each other our whole lives. You can't hide anything from me. I know you too well."

I sighed. "You know how my dad fought Kronos?" I told her all about Gaius, my dreams, and his taunting that he and I were fated to have some kind of big battle someday.

Sierra frowned. "That doesn't sound good… But hey, look on the bright side. Between our two camps, we have like… four hundred campers. I don't care how strong this Gaius guy thinks he is; there's no way he can stand up to the combined might of both our camps."

She was right. The two camps had never been as strong as they were now. It was hard to see how Gaius could hope to be successful against four hundred demigods and legacies. But I didn't share her confidence. Clearly he had an army of his own. Also, he was incredibly intelligent. I knew that just from my brief interaction with him. He definitely had a trick or two up his sleeve. Nevertheless, just as Chiron had asked, I pushed it to the back of my mind.

The fireworks show was amazing. The finale was a series of explosions sequenced so closely together that it actually looked like two giant warriors fighting each other over the Sound. Sierra joined me, Theo, and Jocelyn for the show.

The rest of the summer flew by in a blur. I got better in all of my activities, Theo and I watched Jocelyn finally beat Kingdom Hearts, and I helped Mike make and break Capture the Flag alliances. Theo and I helped Jocelyn and a couple of her siblings pull pranks on other campers. I even hung out with Gus a few times. I kept so busy during the day, that I honestly didn't have any time to spare thinking about Gaius.

At night, though, I would lay awake for hours, trying in vain to figure out what Gaius was doing. I hadn't heard any news about him yet. I brought it up to Jocelyn a couple of times, knowing that she'd be keeping her ear to the ground for any relevant information, but he seemed to be waiting to make his next move.

On the last day of the summer session, the beads for the year got passed out. This year's had been designed by the Aphrodite cabin. It was pink with a red rose on it. "To commemorate Elizabeth, Jocelyn, and Theo successfully saving the goddess Persephone!" Violet announced, stringing the bead onto her necklace. The whole camp cheered, and I blushed.

I hung back at the fire for a few minutes after everyone else had dispersed, just enjoying the quiet. The next morning, I'd be heading back home. On the one hand, it would be good to see my family again. But I would really miss Camp. Finally, I stood up and left the amphitheater.

As I strode back to the Poseidon cabin I looked across the fields and woods. Camp was absolutely beautiful, there was no denying it. I hoped that whatever dangerous fate awaited me – that whatever Gaius was planning – Camp would stay intact, and stay just as beautiful.

"Elizabeth!" a panicked voice called out. I turned. I could tell by the yellow eyes that it was Helen, daughter of Hecate.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I couldn't imagine what could make her sound that way. Very little phased Helen.

"Something happened to Hecate," Helen said breathlessly. "I don't know what exactly, but…"

I slapped my forehead. I had completely forgotten to warn her that someone (because I was still being careful not to tell people about Gaius) was going to try and steal something from Hecate. And now my lapse had caused something bad to happen to another goddess. And as much as Hecate pissed me off, I had the distinct feeling that something good had just happened for Gaius. And anything that was good for Gaius was bad for me.

I wasn't entirely sure why Helen had seen fit to run to me with the information. Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time. Regardless, I wasn't about to question it. It was the closest thing to a lead I'd had since I'd gotten back to Camp. "Let's go talk to Chiron," I told her.

We ran across the lawn and up to the Big House. Chiron stood next to Mr. D at the front steps of the porch. A man in jogging clothes was facing them, speaking in low tones. I recognized him, even though he was wearing different clothes, as Hermes. The winged shoes kinda gave him away.

"Chiron!" I called out, failing to observe formalities in my haste.

He turned to look at me, and I saw his face was grave. Clearly Hermes had not been delivering good news. "What is it, Elizabeth?"

"Helen has something to –"

"Something has happened to my mother," Helen said quickly. "Something is wrong with Hecate."

Chiron and Hermes shared a look. Mr. D frowned and took a sip from his Diet Coke.

"You are correct about that," Hermes said. "I had just arrived to deliver the news. We aren't entirely sure what happened, but Hecate has disappeared. It appears there was something of a struggle."

"It was Gaius," I said. "He needed something of Hecate's. A book. _On the Mist_."

"Gaius?" Helen asked.

I explained quickly, though I left out the part about how he was the son of Kronos. Helen frowned. " _On the Mist_? If he was after that book, it's not good. It contains some of the rarest and most powerful spells my mother has ever developed. Most of them she hasn't even used."

Hermes shifted uncomfortably. "What kinds of spells, young lady?"

Helen merely shrugged. "I don't know. Hecate only has the one copy. It's not something she would want to be spread."

That was really not good. Who knew what Gaius could do now? The son of Kronos had made his next move, and yet we were no closer to any answers. I felt something harden inside me. Whatever he had planned, I vowed to stop him. Silently, I swore on the River Styx that I would do everything in my power to stop the son of Kronos.

* * *

 **AN: Because cliffhanger! Haha, sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed book 1 of the Elizabeth Jackson series. Now you're probably wondering when book 2 is coming. The answer is: soon. How soon? Well here's the plan.**

 **When I get back from my trip, I am going to post an Author's Note Chapter at the end of this. In it, I will be sure to answer any questions people ask in reviews while I am gone, so don't be shy about asking question! However, I will also be giving you tidbits and teasers for book 2, including a projected release date. So keep your eyes peeled! You can expect said update on the 24th or 25th, so a little more than a week. I'll see you guys then!**

 **As I said, I really hope you've enjoyed reading Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It truly has been great to get this idea out there. I'll see you guys in my author's note!**


	21. Author's Note: Book 2 Teaser

**Author's Note: Book 2 Teaser and Other Information**

 **Hey everyone! So if you're reading this, you probably want to know more about the upcoming sequel. But before I give you guys the promised teaser information, I would like to, once again, thank you. Everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this story, whether you've done all of these things or just one of them, I am truly indebted to you. I had been playing around with this idea for a long time, so to receive the support that I did for my brain child has really been gratifying. And I know that I thank you guys every time, but I just wanted to one last time, because I truly do mean it every time.**

 **Okay, that's enough of that. I haven't had any real questions since last time, so I'll hop straight into telling you guys about the next book in the series. Here's some little tidbits of information.**

 **-Dreams will be much more prominent in book 2 than they were in book 1**

 **-Matt Jackson chooses to go to Camp Jupiter**

 **-Elizabeth and gang will learn a lot more about Gaius and the people he works with**

 **-Augustus Grace will play a lot larger role, and a character only mentioned in passing in book 1 will become prominent**

 **-The first chapter is already titled; Chapter 1: I Spend Quality Time With Luke Castellan**

 **-Here's an excerpt guaranteed to be in the book!**

* * *

"How do you expect me to win if you won't tell me everything you know?" I burst out.

Poseidon was unphased by my outburst, but I chided myself regardless. This was one of the gods on my side. That was a rare commodity for me considering I'd pissed a lot of gods off by losing my temper in front of the entire Olympian Council. I didn't want to alienate my grandfather, too.

"One of the hardest parts of being a god is letting your mortal family find their own destinies," Poseidon said, frowning. "We can help in small ways, but ultimately our mortal descendants must find their own way. You can succeed Elizabeth, but it is up to you to do so." Poseidon stepped out onto the surface of the pool water. He turned back to face me. "I must leave you now," he said. "Good luck, Elizabeth. Also, I am sorry."

"Sorry?"

"In the near future, you will suffer great personal pain. I wish that it was not so, but that is how it must be." Poseidon was sinking into the pool, but instead of floating to the bottom he was disappearing.

"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked, desperately. "What do you mean about personal pain?" But Poseidon was gone.

* * *

 **-The title of book 2 will be Elizabeth Jackson and the Missing Prophecy**

 **So those are the only tidbits I'm going to give you. Now the other thing that you're probably wondering is when you can expect book 2 to start coming out and what the update schedule is going to look like. As you can probably guess from my ability to give you tidbits of information as well as the existence of chapter titles and even a short excerpt, I** _ **have**_ **already started writing it. However, I am not quite ready to begin publishing it for a couple of reasons: 1) classes start for me on August 31** **st** **, so I'm going to be a lot busier starting then and I want to get nice and far ahead with rough drafts at least before I start publishing and 2) I still have some story details and kinks to work out.**

 **That being said, I will start publishing book 2 fairly soon. I felt good about my Tuesday/Friday update schedule, so I will be continuing that for book 2. Therefore, starting Tuesday, September 8** **th** **, you can expect to start seeing Elizabeth Jackson and the Missing Prophecy. I will, hopefully, be able to keep up with Tuesday/Friday updates, but with classes starting back up, I** _ **may**_ **have to slow updates down to once a week. But we'll wait and see.**

 **Between now and then, I will** _ **hopefully**_ **post one or two one-shots in my one-shot collection, Untold Stories, but no promises on that one. It's just something that I hope to get to, but it isn't really a priority for me right now – Elizabeth Jackson stuff takes priority.**

 **So yeah. That just about covers everything I meant to get to in this Author's Note. I'll be sure to post another one on this story to announce book 2 the moment I post chapter 1. Once again, thank you for checking out Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess, and until next time, DFTBA!**


	22. Author's Note: Book 2 is here!

**Author's Note: Book 2 is here!**

 **Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I _just_ posted Chapter 1 of Elizabeth Jackson and the Missing Prophecy, the second book in this series! I hope you guys enjoy it! (It may take a couple of hours to actually show up on the site because of that whole "4-6 hours" delay thing that the site does, but I _did_ just post it. Keep your eyes open.) Here's the summary for the story.**

(Book 2 of 5) Elizabeth Jackson has had a pretty quiet year, but all that will change as she returns for her second summer at Camp Half-Blood. Her enemy from last summer, Gaius, is becoming active again. Alex de Marco, the annoying Head Counselor from the Zeus Cabin, has been taken captive by a woman called Marina, an associate of Gaius's, and Augustus Grace is chosen to lead the rescue mission. Elizabeth starts having dreams about Gaius's past, courtesy of her grandmother, Athena. On top of all of it, Elizabeth also has to worry about the supposed battle that she and Gaius are fated to have. It looks like Elizabeth's second summer at camp will be even crazier than her first…

 **I'll see you guys there! DFTBA!**


End file.
